


snowflake, i'll catch you tonight

by ryerim (orphan_account)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fluff, M/M, Mild Angst, Mild Language, Rise of the Guardians (2012) References, Romance, very cliché and cheesy don't sue me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-18 12:04:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18120476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ryerim
Summary: Wonwoo is the Spirit of Winter. Mingyu hates cold weather.





	snowflake, i'll catch you tonight

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by "Rise of the Guardians". if you want to check the movie out it's really cute!

. * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 . 

 

 

“Get up.”

Something nudges his leg, the sliver of skin exposed between Wonwoo’s pants and his bare feet. 

He scrunches up his nose, brain not having started to work yet, and decides to ignore the disturbance.

“Get up, asshole,” The same, annoying voice mutters again. “Winter’s not gonna come on it’s own.”

Wonwoo groans, his head buried under a blanket, before his eyes slowly peel open.

There is no telling what time it is, and once he’s awake enough for the wheels in his head to start turning again, Wonwoo realizes with a rather excited flutter in his chest that it’s time to wake up.

It’s _winter_.

He throws off the blankets and scrambles to sit up in his bed, the person sitting on top of him falling off with a startled yelp. Wonwoo’s skin starts prickling as he summons up his energy that’s been put into a resting mode along with him, feels the magic start thrumming in his veins like a second heartbeat until it reaches the tips of his fingers like tiny sparkles.

His mouth stretches into a huge grin when he feels every single nerve of his body come alive.

Wonwoo ignores Minghao on the floor and flies off the bed, bare feet flying across the wooden floor until he’s hovering in front of the window to check if it’s really true. Wouldn’t be the first time Mingaho woke him up in the middle of September, claiming it was winter already, just to see Wonwoo lose his temper and accidentally freeze everything in his own apartment.

His eyes take in the streets below in excitement. It’s still morning, so not many people are out and about, but Minghao must’ve lowered the temperature significantly already, because he can make out the tiniest little clouds puffing out of a man’s mouth as he hurries down the street.

He looks at the tree next to his window, just in time to see the last of it’s red autumn leaves fall off.

Wonwoo sighs dreamily and turns around, smirking at Minghao who’s giving him a scowl while rubbing at his shoulder.

Minghao is the spirit of fall.

His hair is spiky and brown, glimmers in different shades of gold and red in the light. His eyes look like the color of autumn leaves, a swirl of warmth, orange and red and yellow, and his attire’s made of the same color range. He has leaves tattooed on his arms like a string, and his necklaces and bracelets are adorned with crystals and acorns.

Wonwoo’s heard other spirits call him cute, but he thinks the outfit’s tacky and over the top, and lets the other know frequently. Not that Minghao cares too much. He much prefers his own outfit, consisting of nothing but grey pants that stop down at his calves (because he likes having his ankles exposed) and a blue hoodie with some sparkly snowflakes etched into it. His hair is grey, which he doesn’t appreciate. He’s tried to dye it like humans do, but it just turns grey again every time, so he stopped bothering.

“So, what did I miss?” Wonwoo asks, tilting his head.

“Same old crap,” Minghao mutters with a shrug. “Humans fighting each other. Polluting the air. Braiding their eyebrows. Throwing away food while others are starving. Lots of YouTube apologies, that was fun. Apple came out with wireless earphones that look like crap. Infinity War came out.”

At that, Wonwoo’s face lights up. “Was it any good?”

Minghao snorts. “I’m not saying shit.” With that, he pushes off the floor and dusts himself off.

Wonwoo frowns at the leaves that fall off him in the process. “Stop making a mess.”

“How about you be a little nicer to me, huh? It’s five degrees outside. Do you know how much it pained me to make it this freezing? Last year I left all the work up to you. It was fifteen degrees out when you woke up!”

Wonwoo rolls his eyes. “Sure, I appreciate it. Want me to build you a snowman?”

“Fuck off, Won. I’m going to sleep. Don’t be an idiot and cause a second ice age, will you?” The spirit starts walking towards him and nudges him aside carelessly, opening the window to climb out. “I’ll see you next year.”

Wonwoo waves at him with two fingers. “Say hi to Seokmin for me, will you?”

Minghao grumbles under his breath, the apples of his cheeks turning a shade darker, before he jumps out and lands in a pile of leaves on the floor that will take him to the spirit world, and with that, to Seokmin, also known as the spirit of Spring.

Minghao and the other spirit usually spend the time in between seasons together, until the other has to leave to come back to earth and control the current season.

Wonwoo is the only spirit he knows that spends his time off duty on earth. He’s never been too fond of the spirit world.

Most of the other spirits don’t really like the was he’s doing his job, almost like it’s a crime to have fun while he’s at it. He knows they talk behind his back all the time. Knows they want him replaced, and even though he tries to pretend it doesn’t get to him, it does hurt nonetheless.

Wonwoo sighs and stretches his body, feeling his joints crack pleasantly, before he jumps out the window to get to work. 

 

 . * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

The weather quickly goes from bearably cold to minus degrees through the nights and mornings, and even though it’s only the end of October, Wonwoo feels way too impatient this year. He’ll probably get a little scolding from Mother Nature, but she’s been retired for quite a while now, so she’s way more calm than she used to be. And besides, it was her who chose Wonwoo to be the new winter spirit after the last one decided he’d had enough and wanted to go back to being a boring, mortal human. Wonwoo can’t relate. He can fly, he can create snow and ice with a snap of his fingers, _and_ he’s immortal.

He's basically a superhero, maybe not as cool as Captain America, but still. It’s _sick_.

So yeah, anyways.

He drank a little bit too much a few years ago, back when he was considering dropping out of college and had a little more than seven beers in his system. He’d drunkenly slipped on a patch of ice and hit his head on the pavement on his way home.

Wonwoo doesn’t remember if he died from the impact. He blacked out after feeling his head hit the ground, before he could even register the pain. And quite frankly, he doesn’t remember all that much from his old life, either.

All he knows is that he woke up in the spirit world, to the face of a boy with golden hair and stars glimmering in his eyes, who later turned out to be the Sandman, and even later became his friend Seungkwan, whom he sometimes crosses paths with when they’re both working at night. 

The Man in the Moon for some reason believed Wonwoo had what it took to become a Spirit, so he spared his measly life and rescued him from his shitty family and the prospect of a sad, unfulfilled future at an even sadder desk job.

So yeah.

That’s his story.

So now he’s the winter spirit, and currently he’s sitting on top of the roof of a school, although the students look a little too old, so it’s probably a college.

Wonwoo’s invisible to human eyes (at least he’s supposed to be, there’s this myth going around that if a human believes in the spirit, they will be able to see them, but Wonwoo has yet to experience that himself) so when he ran across the pavement and made ice spread around his feet on several spots, no one was the wiser.

But now, he’s watching in glee as the students slip and slide on the icy patches. The ones who curse and get angry give him the most satisfaction, because any other reaction will just make him feel like an asshole. But it’s not like Wonwoo is hurting anyone. Whenever it looks like someone’s actually going to fall and get hurt, he quickly teleports himself to save them.

That… kind of makes him the villain _and_ hero but. What else is he supposed to do with his time?

He usually makes his rounds across the globe within a few measly hours, and he’ll set the weather everywhere for the day, and fix whatever gets out of hand whenever Wonwoo’s having mood swings, and repeat the process the next time the sun rises.

It gets boring quickly, especially when he’s not supposed to make it snow yet.

Wonwoo has learned that humans aren’t fond of early snow, as it takes away from their excitement for Christmas, which made Santa Clause really quite angry and he’d sent his army of elves full of anger issues after Wonwoo’s ass for it that year.

Now, Wonwoo makes sure to tease the humans long enough for them to think that it won’t be snowing for Christmas _at all_ , but then he’ll work his ass off the night before Christmas, so people all over the world can wake up to sparkling snow the next morning.

For Wonwoo, there’s no halfway with things.

It’s all or nothing (and then all at once in the last second).

He thinks he should be appreciated more.

Humans think the weather is something that just _happens_ , something that can’t be controlled. It’s funny, because Wonwoo used to think that, too, before he turned into the winter spirit himself.

It’s so naïve and small minded, to think the seasons just come and go themselves. As if nature is set like an alarm clock. Do humans not question anything, ever?

Wonwoo purses his lips and snickers to himself when a dude slips on the ice he created and proceeds to yell at his friend for laughing at him.

The next guy who approaches the building however, seems to be in a rush. His hair looks like a bird’s nest, and the glasses on his face are all fogged and a second away from falling to the ground. He’s wearing nothing but a sweater unlike most other people, who are already bundled up in scarves and coats, and Wonwoo wonders how as stupid as this guy got into college.

Wonwoo bites down on his lower lip, watching with brewing excitement, like seriously, the only thing missing is popcorn at this point, but then, the guy trips.

He trips. 

Over _nothing_.

Like, it wasn’t even the ice that made him lose his balance, the giant mess of a human just decided to fall over like that’s a thing, and for a second, Wonwoo doesn’t know what to do.

He shouldn’t care, because it’s not Wonwoo’s fault the guy can’t walk, but with a sigh, Wonwoo finds himself teleporting to where the guy is already on his way to kiss the floor. Wonwoo reaches his hand out and grabs the guy’s backpack, pulling him back before his face can meet the ground.

The guy gasps, turning around in confusion, and suddenly they’re standing just a breath apart.

Wonwoo holds his breath, and watches as the boy looks right through him.

Wonwoo freezes (…) a little on his spot, his mouth parting as he gets a good look at the boy’s face for the first time.

The glasses are dangerously low on his nose, and just as Wonwoo thinks this, the boy reaches up to push them up the bridge of his nose. Wonwoo smiles at the action.

The boy’s brown eyes remind Wonwoo of warmth, and they’re looking more scared by the second, because he was just pulled up and saved by some invisible force. Wonwoo can imagine how creeped out he is.

The boy mutters a quiet “What the fuck?” under his breath, his cheeks and nose all red from the cold as his eyes scan his surroundings, trying to find a plausible explanation for what just happened. Wonwoo fights the urge to reach out and touch his skin, which looks warm, too. Somehow, Wonwoo thinks that this human doesn’t look right in this cold weather. He thinks that he’d look much better surrounded by sunlight and warmth, rather than a grey sky and frosty air.

Before Wonwoo can form another thought, the buy turns around and starts running towards the building in a hurry, and Wonwoo remains standing there, looking after him.

“Well, well, well,” A taunting voice mumbles into his ear.

Wonwoo jumps and turns to see none other than Jeonghan leaning against the tree there. If it weren’t for the fact that they’re invisible, he would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb, as he’s wearing nothing but white shorts with a white, cropped sweater. There’s a heart on his sweater, which moves rhythmically, like a heart beat, because there is nothing magic can not do. Jeonghan smirks at him, and he’s twirling around one of his arrows in his fingers, making Wonwoo’s heart drop in dread.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just my job.”

“Well, go do it somewhere else.”

Jeonghan clicks his tongue and steps closer, Wonwoo instinctively tensing up at the proximity. The other spirit always smells of a mixture of roses and sugar. It makes Wonwoo’s nose twitch, because he imagines that it’s what love potions must smell like. “That was an adorable human, wasn’t it?”

“He’s a human.” Wonwoo scoffs and moves away, turning around to face the other spirit. There are red particles glimmering in the others’ dark eyes, and Wonwoo knows they’re in the shape of hearts, but he doesn’t want to get too close to find out. Jeonghan is Cupid, he’s the spirit of love, so nothing about him should be too scary.

But there’s just this strange aura surrounding the spirit, his eyes seemingly always sparkling with mirth.

Wonwoo is almost certain that Cupid has it out for him, for reasons yet unknown.

“Well observed, Wonwoo. He’s human.” Suddenly, Jeonghan teleports again, and something sharp digs into Wonwoo’s butt. He curses and turns to glare at the other boy, who only smirks at him, rubbing the sharp tip of his arrow with the pad of his finger. “And you know the consequences of that, don’t you? I have my eyes on you.” He winks, and then, disappears into a dust of red glimmer.

“Fucking weirdo,” Wonwoo mutters under his breath, not wanting to admit how much Cupid creeps him out. Minghao wouldn’t ever let him live it down.

He glances at the entrance of the school again, trying to ignore how disappointed he feels when he finds the boy already gone.

He sighs and decides he’s not going to push the limits of Mother Nature’s patience any further and teleports to Norway to get the hail storm there under control.

 

 

 . * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

 

The next time Wonwoo sees the boy with the glasses and messy hair, it’s a week later, and it’s pure coincidence.

The general temperature has dropped even further now, and most people aren’t happy about it. Their annoyed reactions whenever they have to scrape the ice from their wind shields in the morning only eggs Wonwoo on to make the weather colder, and it’s taking a lot willpower from him to behave and _actually_ not cause what could be considered another Ice Age.

Wonwoo’s strolling through the mostly empty streets of the town late at night, feeling bored out of his mind as he made sure to keep the weather pretty much normal all over the globe today. He runs his fingers over the dirty brick wall of an apartment complex and watches ice spread from the tips of his fingers.

Sure, having super powers is cool and all (it’s all six year old Wonwoo dreamt of), and being invisible is fun most of the time, but what they don’t tell you when they turn you into a spirit, is that it can get really lonely.

Wonwoo watches humans interact, watches them go out and party, watches children play on playgrounds, watches lovers kiss, knowing he can’t ever have that because people don’t even know of his existence, and the other spirits aren’t too fond of him (except for Seungkwan, but Wonwoo doesn’t get to hang out with him that much since the boy is very diligent in his job as the Sandman and is too nice to tell Wonwoo that he’s being a distraction, so Wonwoo tends to leave him alone). He’s okay with it most of the time. Heck, he’s asleep for nearly a year. He’s not going to spend the four months he has sulking around because he has no friends or no one truly cares about him.

He sighs and pushes off the ground to sit on top of the tree next to the main street in front of a supermarket. It’s a seven-eleven, so it tends to be the busiest place this late, and the chances of seeing other people are highest here. This is what he does for a while, his lower lip pushed out because nothing exciting is happening ever in this town on a Thursday night.

But then, all of a sudden, two figures step out of the shop, holding bags in their hands as they start walking down the street. Wonwoo doesn’t get to see their faces for too long, but he spots a familiar pair of glasses and the same mop of messy hair he’d been thinking about every now and then in the past few days, and suddenly, his night has gotten at least ten times better.

Wonwoo swings down from the bench he’s been sitting on so he can get closer to the boys and proceeds to hover above them while they walk.

It’s the boy again.

The one Wonwoo saved even though he had absolutely no reason to do such thing.

Again, he looks tired, his nose is completely red, and he’s not wearing much more than a denim jacket.

It’s about two degrees outside.

Why the hell is this earthling not wearing a proper coat? 

Wonwoo frowns and wants to shout at the boy to go back home quickly before he gets sick, but just as he thinks this, the boy pulls a weird face, and sneezes loudly.

“Jesus. Next time cover your mouth, you idiot,” His friend mutters with a disgusted look on his face. Wonwoo doesn’t like it and thinks of various ways on how to make him pay for being such an asshole to Wonwoo’s boy but decides against it, since he seems to be the boy’s friend, and Wonwoo doesn’t want to do anything to make him upset.

“Fuck off,” His boy mumbles and wipes his nose on his wrist. Wonwoo pouts, wishes he could offer him a tissue or something. “I hate the winter.”

The words make Wonwoo falter, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. What did he just say?

“Don’t blame the weather,” The other guy mutters. “It’s your fault for walking around like it’s a warm summer night.”

Wonwoo can’t stop frowning, trying to ignore the boy’s words from before. Surely he didn’t mean that.

“I’m still waiting for my pay check, alright? I’ll buy a coat first thing as soon as I have enough money.” The boy pouts and hugs the bag to his chest, scrunching up his face as if to protect himself from the cold wind. Wonwoo looks around and sees some dry leaves rustling in the wind, and immediately snaps his fingers to stop the wind fromblowing. He glances back at the boy, who sighs and drops his shoulders. “It’s just… my immune system isn’t made for this kind of weather. It’s just too cold.”

And at that, Wonwoo stops his powers, and drops to stand on the ground. He watches the boys disappear around the corner of a building, and feels strangely empty. 

Well shit.

What now?

 

 . * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

 

Over the course of the next few days, Wonwoo is sulking in the cramped space of his home, which essentially used to be a one-bedroom apartment/attic before Santa Clause bought it for Wonwoo to live there as it became clear that the winter spirit wouldn’t be hanging around in the spirit world that much.

The words of his boy won’t leave his mind, how red his skin was from the cold, his runny nose, the sneeze, all of which Wonwoo caused.

The last thing he wants is to hurt another person, let alone that boy, but what is he supposed to do?

It is supposed to be cold this time around of the year. While Wonwoo can play around with the temperature here and there, Mother Nature would be after his ass if he stepped out of line too much.

Wonwoo is busy pouting with his head dangling from the mattress, his silver hair brushing over the wooden floor, little glittery snowflakes falling out of them, when there’s suddenly a loud thump at his window.

Wonwoo glances at it upside down, and spot golden flecks swirling around in the darkness of the night, and then there’s a round face peering in.

Seungkwan spots him and grins, waving for Wonwoo to open the window and let him in. 

Wonwoo groans and hops off the bed with a flip, unlocking the windows with a snap of his fingers to let his friend in.

Seungkwan climbs inside and leaves the window open, leaning against it with furrowed eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean—the spirits are all angry, Wonwoo. Mother Nature is two days away from personally coming to hunt you down.”

Wonwoo gapes at him. “What? Why? I didn’t do anything!”

“Are you sure about that?” Seungkwan gently asks. He points out the window with his thumb, each movement sending golden specks flying into the air. “People are walking around in sleeveless shirts, Wonwoo. It’s _November_.”

Wonwoo parts his lips, completely baffled, and comes to realize that not only has he been stuck inside his room for much longer than he thought, but he also completely disregarded his job. “I… I can explain.”

Seungkwan shakes his head with a smile. “How about you explain while you fix that mess out there?”

Wonwoo sighs and nods his head, reaching out grab his hoodie from the floor and put it on.

He spends the next few hours working alongside Seungkwan. While Wonwoo fixes the weather, Seungkwan makes sure to take care of the children’s dreams, replacing the nightmares with happy memories. Wonwoo likes watching Seungkwan work. It’s peaceful, seeing the golden dust following him around like his own little galaxy.

By the time Wonwoo is done, the world looks a little more frozen again, and the windows are starting to gather ice from the freezing temperature.

“Alright, so…” Seungkwan sits down next to Wonwoo on top of the roof, both of them facing the windows of a huge apartment complex. “This boy is important to you?”

“No!” Wonwoo quickly shakes his head. “I mean—I just don’t like hurting people. It threw me off when he said that. I didn’t know how to react.”

“So you decided to just quit your job because you’re emotionally constipated.”

“I forgot, okay? Can’t a spirit be depressed, too? What kind of discrimination is this?”

“Oh, shut up,” Seungkwan mumbles. “Back to my original question, though. Are you sure he doesn’t mean anything to you? You even touched him. Mother Nature wasn’t too happy about that.”

“Okay, first of all, I didn’t touch _him,_ because I fucking can’t. I touched his bag.”

“Hey,” Seungkwan mutters. “Don’t curse.”

Wonwoo cringes. “Sorry. I just… I don’t even know his name.”

“Well, yeah, so I assumed.”

“Why?”

“You keep calling him _your boy_.”

Wonwoo feels his whole neck grow hot once he realizes that Seungkwan is telling the truth. In fact, he’s been referring to the boy as _his_ boy ever in his head for a while, but he never noticed until his friend pointed it out to him.

“I just— I mean… since I don’t know his name, that just… It doesn’t _mean_ anything. Stop looking at me like that!”

Seungkwan continues grinning at him, shrugging his shoulders as he swings his legs back and forth, sprinkles of gold falling from his feet into the darkness below. “It’s okay, Wonwoo. All of us took interest in a mortal before. It’s not a crime.” 

“Not a crime? It’s the number one rule in the book of rules!” 

Seungkwan rolls his eyes. “As long as you don’t act upon your feelings it’s not. There’s no harm in getting to know your boy. It’s not like he’ll notice you. Right?”  


“He’s not my boy.” 

“Okay.” Seungkwan giggles and stands up, pointing at his imaginary clock. “The sun will go up soon. You know how weird children’s dreams get when they’re about to wake up.”

Wonwoo sighs and nods, pursing his lips as he watches his friend walk up to the edge of the roof. “Have fun.”

Seungkwan grins and waves at him, and then lets himself fall from the roof, and even though Wonwoo knows he’ll be okay, his heart stops for a moment.

Until Seungkwan comes back up further ahead, flying off into the night sky with a path of golden stars following him.

Wonwoo smiles and watches until the other spirit disappears, and then proceeds to sit there until the sun rises, thinking over Seungkwan’s words.

And makes a decision.

 

 

The next day, after taking care of his duties (being the responsible winter spirit he is), Wonwoo goes back to the University and waits for the boy.

He waits for a long time.

In fact, Wonwoo waits for so long, that if he were a mortal, his fingers and toes would’ve frozen and fallen off at this point, but seeing as he isn’t, he’s doing splendid in his cotton pants, swinging his bare feet around in the air as he waits for the boy to show up.

When the sun starts to set and less and less students start going in and out of the building, Wonwoo’s hope starts deflating.

Maybe… the boy is at work?

Students have part time jobs, right?

And the boy did mention something about a pay check…

Wonwoo perks up at the sound of the doors being pushed open after a long time, his lip stilled pushed into a pout as he hasn’t got much hope left to see the boy today, but his eyebrows shoot up when he finally sees the person he’s been waiting for all day exit the building.

Wonwoo can’t even stop himself before he flies off the roof, landing on his feet a little ahead of the boy to get a good look at him.

The boy rubs at his eyes with his knuckles, his glasses attached to the collar of his sweater. 

He looks so tired again, and Wonwoo wonders why that is. 

At least he’s wearing more than just a flimsy jacket today. 

Wonwoo stares like he’s seeing a mortal for the first time, unable to tear his gaze away from the boy as said person approaches him with slow steps and then—

walks right through him.

Wonwoo’s chest constricts and his expression falls. For the fraction of a second the boy walked through him, Wonwoo actually felt… warmth. 

Blooming, right in the centre of his chest.

Something he hasn’t felt in a very, very long time.

Can’t even exactly remember how it feels, feeling warm on the inside. He has faint memories of his mom hugging him when he was little, but the physical feeling of it, he’d completely forgotten about it.

He isn’t sure if this is normal, if every spirit is supposed to feel like this when they touch a mortal, but for now, he’s on a mission, and the boy is slowly but surely walking away from him, so Wonwoo has no time to lose.

He follows the boy, deciding to walk next to him on the sidewalk instead of flying. 

It’s actually kind of nice. If he tries hard enough, he can almost pretend they’re friends hanging out.

The boy plugs in his earphones and turns the volume of his music up so high Wonwoo can hear it, too. 

It’s a little worrying, but Wonwoo is too busy taking in the boy’s features to care. 

His profile isn’t perfect. Wonwoo has seen a lot of mortals, and he’s seen ones anyone else would call _perfect_. 

The boy’s nose has a gentle slope, but is a little droopy at the tip. For some reason, Wonwoo finds this really cute, and the thought makes his cheeks flush in embarrassment. 

His lips seem plump, and Wonwoo honestly hasn’t seen the boy without a hint of a pout yet. Maybe that’s just his natural resting face. 

Either way, he’s trembling a little. From the cold, Wonwoo realizes with a frown. His eyes glisten a little too, the way he’s seen happening to other humans whenever it gets too cold. Wonwoo feels absolutely horrible, but also really helpless, because he’s the cause of the boy’s distress.

And Wonwoo tries - he really does - not to intervene, to make sure nothing like last time happens again.But the boy makes it so hard.

He keeps looking at his phone, and stumbles into other people, or over his own feet, and at one point, he just crosses the road without checking for cars first, and there is in fact one approaching way too fast, which is when Wonwoo can’t hold himself back any longer. 

He reaches his arms out like a barrier, making the boy come to a stop with a confused sound, his head snapping up just in time to see the fast car rushing past him. 

The boy lets out a shaky sigh, since he just basically had a near death experience, and then he seems to realize what just happened, or at least he tries to understand what the heck just happened, because he stumbles back in confusion and looks around anxiously.

Wonwoo gnaws on his lower lip, feeling bad about scaring the boy (again), but he’d rather give him a little scare than see him _dead_. 

The boy reaches a hand up to rub at his chest where he ran into Wonwoo’s arm, and he gulps heavily, shaking his head to himself and muttering “You’re losing it, Mingyu.” 

… Mingyu?

His name is Mingyu?

Wonwoo mouths the name as he looks at the boy’s warm, brown eyes and his messy, black hair, his red cheeks and red nose and finds that the name fits him.

_Mingyu_.

Wonwoo starts smiling, can’t even stop when Mingyu nervously mutters something under his breath and walks through him to hurry off down the road.

 

 

. * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

 

“I know his name!”

Seungkwan jumps so hard he ends up hitting his head on the window he’d been peering through. The boy sleeping in his bed inside frowns in his sleep, but Seungkwan hurriedly sends in some more of his golden dream magic, a little dog appearing above the bed and running circles around the boy’s head until he starts smiling in his sleep.

“Wonwoo!” 

Wonwoo smiles meekly and shrugs his shoulders as his friend turns to glare at him. “I’m sorry!” 

Seungkwan sighs and grabs his arm to pull him up until they’re on the roof of the apartment. “You need to stop sneaking up on me.” 

“You’re fine,” Wonwoo mumbles. “The boy might’ve not believed in you.”

“All kids believe in the Sandman, don’t be ridiculous,” Seungkwan replies with an eye roll. 

Wonwoo tries to ignore the stab in his chest. It’s only the truth. There have been a few instances where kids actually ended up seeing Seungkwan at night because at that age, you still believe in Spirits, but it was not a big deal, since when those kids go ahead to tell their parents about it, they’re met with a gentle smile and a pat on the head.

Little kids and their wild imagination, right?

Sometimes, Wonwoo is jealous of his friend.

But then again, Seungkwan is amazing at his job. He has the purest heart, and loves making people happy, loves protecting the kids on the earth, so he deserve all the love and attention he’s getting.

Wonwoo, on the other hand, not so much.

“So. You found out his name?”  


Seungkwan smiles at the way Wonwoo’s eyes light up again. “Yeah! His name is Mingyu.”

“Mingyu, huh?” 

“Yeah. I heard it when he was talking to himself. But I mean… I’m still making him suffer. He really can’t stand the cold, but I can’t just make Summer come early for him.” Wonwoo glances at his friend who’s nodding his head. “Right?”

“Of course not, Wonwoo!” Seungkwan sighs. “People usually wear extra warm clothes as it gets colder. He could just bundle up nicely whenever he leaves. He should be fine. It’s not that cold yet.”

“Yeah but he doesn’t,” Wonwoo mutters. “The most I’ve seen him wear was a denim jacket.”

“Is he a lunatic or something? Who does that in this weather?”

“Don’t call him that,” Wonwoo snaps, stopping once he sees the surprised look Seungkwan gives him, followed by a knowing smirk that has Wonwoo’s stomach twisting. “I mean… I think he doesn’t have much money. He might not have a coat to wear.”

Seungkwan hums, tilting his head thoughtfully. “We’re spirits, Wonwoo. We do magic. We take care of things, but not materialistic things, hm?”

“I know that.”

“Maybe you could ask Santa to give him a coat for Christmas?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. “He’s in college. He’s too old… and Christmas is still a month away. He’ll get sick if he walks around like this until then.”

“Okay. So what do you want to do?”

“I have to find him a jacket.”

“You can’t. Unless you want to steal, which you won’t, because we’re nice spirits.”

“Yeah but—“

“Wonwoo, no.”

“Look… you’re a good guy,” Wonwoo carefully starts. “You’re always on Santa’s good side. I’m always on his naughty list, so I can’t do this on my own. He owns a whole freaking factory. Getting Mingyu a coat shouldn’t be so hard!”

Seungkwan eyes for him a second before dropping his head with a groan. “Why do I always listen to you?”

“So you’re going to help me?”

“I— I will _try_. I’m not guaranteeing anything. I need to come up with an excuse if you don’t want the whole spirit realm to be all up in your business over this.”

Wonwoo pulls a pained face and shakes his head. “No. No, we don’t want that happening again. Hey uhm… do you think you could also ask for a pair of gloves? Maybe a scarf? …And a hat? Oh and heat packs?”

Seungkwan scoffs and gives him a strange look. “I’ll see what I can do. You might want to think about how you’re going to give all of that to your boy in the meantime.”

“He’s not—“

Before Wonwoo can finish his sentence, Seungkwan disappears right in front of his eyes.

“— my boy.”

Wonwoo’s shoulders sag and he falls on his back with a grunt, blinking up at the clear night sky. 

He can fly.

He can make snow shoot out of his hands.

But he can’t get his hands on a measly jacket?

Honestly. It’s no wonder not a single person on this planet believes in him.

 

 

Two days later, Seungkwan hands him one of Santa’s Christmas bags, giving him a “Please don’t let me down” look, before disappearing again.

Wonwoo can’t stop smiling.

There’s a thick red winter coat, a pair of gloves that have fake fur on the inside, several pairs of socks, a wool hat, all things that will surely keep Mingyu warm during the winter.

Now Wonwoo just needs to figure out a way of giving these to Mingyu.

He follows the boy home to see where he lives and isn’t too surprised that his apartment is in a massive apartment complex in the shadier part of the town, and although this worries him, at least he knows the boy’s got a roof over his head.

Wonwoo figures simply dumping the bag in front of Mingyu’s door wouldn’t be too much of a good idea. He knows humans tend to be suspicious, especially in this day and age, so he’s not sure if Mingyu would just accept the random gifts showing up at his doorstep. 

But he can’t come up with another solution. Mingyu can’t see him, so he can hardly hand the gifts over to him himself.

So the next day, right before Mingyu gets home, Wonwoo places the bag in front of his door, and then quickly teleports outside to hover in front of Mingyu’s window. His apartment is just one room, kitchen, living room and bedroom all cramped together. It looks cosy enough, at least Wonwoo thinks so. 

He waits for Mingyu to come home, and is happy to see the boy carrying the bag inside.

Mingyu has a confused expression on his face, and Wonwoo watches him rummage through the bag for a moment, before the boy drops it and looks around his apartment warily.

And then suddenly, his eyes snap to the window, to where Wonwoo is currently hovering on the other side, looking right into Mingyu’s eyes.

And Mingyu is looking _back_.

Wonwoo feels his heart stutter. This can’t be— right? 

And yeah. It can’t.

Mingyu blinks a few times and shakes his head before getting up and disappearing in his bathroom. 

Wonwoo feels the foolish hope in his chest crumble. He’s a freaking idiot.

Of course Mingyu can’t see him.

He lowers his head and closes his eyes for a moment, starting to feel that pull in his chest whenever he’s needed somewhere in the world. Or rather, his powers.

So he turns away from Mingyu’s home and flies off, feeling better and worse at the same time.

He just hopes Mingyu will wear the gifts, just so Wonwoo can stop worrying and thinking about the human all the time.

 

 

 

Turns out Mingyu doesn’t want to make it easier for him.

The next day while Wonwoo makes his usual runs through the town, he spots the boy walking down the street in nothing but another sweater, and feels his blood boil at the sigh.

“I’m sorry, but you’re an idiot,” Wonwoo mutters under his breath, feeling at a loss as to what to do anymore. He can’t make it warmer for Mingyu, he can’t get him to dress warmer, so maybe he should just forget about this stupid human for good, right?

Now _that_ would solve Wonwoo’s problems.

But it’s easier said than done, because Wonwoo can’t just forget about the boy with a snap of his fingers the way he controls practically everything else.

He simply can’t stop worrying. He doesn't know why. 

There's this strange urge inside of him that makes it physically impossible for him to stop thinking about the human. Like an invisible force, almost.

So, like the fool he is, he goes back.

To check up on Mingyu.

And again.

And again.

And the stupid, stupid boy, just doesn’t take care of himself at all.

The weather just gets colder and colder, and no matter how hard Wonwoo tries to raise the temperature a little, Mother Nature’s voice pops up in his head and immediately makes him drop it again. 

It’s not until one night when Wonwoo shows up at Mingyu’s window again, only to see the boy lying in his bed with a red nose and tissues scattered around him, that Wonwoo feels his chest constrict horribly and decides that he has to do something.

Mingyu is sick.

He caught a cold, because of Wonwoo, but also because he seems to want to freeze himself to death for some reason.

Wonwoo curses under his breath and without thinking, makes ice appear on the window glass so he can write something on it. 

Once he’s done, he knocks on the glass, and watches Mingyu’s head pop up from his sheets with a sleepy look on his face. 

The boy looks like he’s about to disregard it, but Wonwoo isn’t having any of it, so he knocks again, and this time Mingyu shoots up into a sitting position, looking positively freaked out.

Good.

No, actually it’s not good, it’s the exact opposite of good, and Wonwoo is pretty sure he’s gonna be in so much trouble, but for some reason, he can’t seem to care right now.

He watches Mingyu push his covers off and slowly get to his feet, and Wonwoo can’t do anything but shake his head when he sees that Mingyu isn’t wearing anything but a long sleeved shirt, his feet and legs completely bare.

Mingyu freezes a little when he sees something on his window and then comes closer, squinting his eyes, and Wonwoo watches closely as he reads what’s written there.

 

_** wear the coat godammit! ** _

 

Mingyu stumbles back, and trips over his feet, landing on his butt. He scrambles away and Wonwoo sees his lips move but can’t hear what he’s saying.

All he knows is that Mingyu’s eyes are filling with tears and his lower lip trembles and that positively breaks Wonwoo’s heart.

In fact, Mingyu’s reaction has him so concerned he finds himself hovering inside the boy’s bedroom a second later, having teleported without thinking it through too much.

He wants to apologize, wants to tell Mingyu that it’s okay, that he doesn’t have to be scared, but maybe he should’ve thought of the consequences _before_ he decided to leave a message on Mingyu’s windows that are situated on the eighth floor of the apartment complex.

“L-Look, _ghost_. Demon. Satan. Whoever you are. I really don’t have anything you could want from me, and you’re really scaring me. If that’s what you wanted then you succeeded. Because I’m scared. So please, no— no more or I might pee my pants and I'm in my twenties I will never ever get over it!”

The boy’s fear laced voice has Wonwoo more upset than it should, the glossy eyes having Wonwoo wanting nothing more than to make it okay again.

So he panics.

And turns to create another layer of frost on the window, and proceeds to write something else there.

 

** _don’t be scared! i won’t hurt you_ **

 

Mingyu’s eyes widen as he watches the words appear on his window letter by letter, and he lets out a whimper, his eyes filling with tears.

Wonwoo’s heart is beating erratically. It’s the closest he’s ever gotten to talking to a human in his spirit form, and he can’t quite wrap his mind around the fact that he might just be able to communicate with this boy. 

He curses under his breath when Mingyu starts crying hysterically, and wipes the words away to say something else.

 

** _i’m not a ghost or demon ok?_ **

 

Mingyu shakes his head and curls into himself. He hesitates before whispering “Then what?”  


Wonwoo sighs and shakes his head. There’s no way he can get this grown up man to believe in what is happening, least of all make Mingyu believe in _Wonwoo._

But he supposes he’s got nothing to lose at this point.

 

** _i’m the spirit of winter_ **

 

Mingyu stops crying and tilts his head. “What?”

 

** _the spirit of winter? jack frost?_ **

 

Understanding dawns on Mingyu’s face. “But that dude’s just a myth, right? Like the Sandman. To give kids hope and happiness.”

Wonwoo’s shoulders sag, disappointment making his chest feel heavy.

 

** _i’m real_ **

 

Mingyu stays silent for a moment, and he takes a deep breath before sitting up properly and wiping his nose on the sleeve of his sweater. “Alright. I’m still 90% sure I’m having a fever dream so I’ll just go along with this… Why can’t I see you?” 

Wonwoo is already moving to write his answer on the window, but stops himself when he feels the nagging feeling in the back of his head. He might just be about to screw up big time.

He knows he shouldn’t. 

He knows he should teleport away and never come back, leave Mingyu believing that all of this truly was nothing more than a fever dream. 

No one would be the wiser, and Wonwoo would be off the hook before Mother Nature could even hear of what he was up to.

But then he looks at Mingyu, sees the expectant, glinting eyes, and Wonwoo just wants—

He _wants_ Mingyu to see him.

He just wants to be seen, just like Seungkwan does every night by the kids, or how the tooth fairy sometimes gets caught by children at night, same for Santa Clause.

It’s not fair. Wonwoo is doing just as much work as them, he’s bringing the kids just as much joy, so why does no one believe in him? 

Wonwoo takes another deep breath before writing on the window again.

 

 

** _because you don’t believe in me_ **

 

Mingyu purses his lips. “So what, if I believe in you, I’ll be able to see you?”

 

** _yes_ **

 

“Well… give me something to make me believe in you. Because this feels too much like a dream. I mean… it has to be. None of this can be real? I’m just really sick, and maybe I’m about to die, and I should go to the hospital, but I can’t pay the bills so I guess I’ll just die—“

Wonwoo frowns at Mingyu’s words, the thought of something happening to the boy upsetting him to no end. Also, Mingyu’s rambling is making Wonwoo nervous, so he does the first thing that comes to his mind. 

He makes it snow.

Inside Mingyu’s bedroom.

Right above his head.

Mingyu gasps when the first cold snowflakes land on his skin, and then he jerks up, lifting his hands to watch the sparkly snowflakes land on his palms. 

He watches in awe at the magic Wonwoo is creating for him, and it oddly makes him look like a curious child rather than a college guy.

The sight makes Wonwoo relax despite him currently going against so many rules in the Big book of rules that comes with being a spirit.

In that moment, he couldn’t care less.

Wonwoo always wanted to be seen, but he never made actual effort to pursue his dream. Maybe it was the fear of being let down, or maybe he just never thought it was worth the trouble. But the pure wonder in Mingyu’s eyes that you rarely see in grown ups anymore  _makes_  it all worth it.

It takes the boy a few minutes of silently staring at the falling snow around him to come back to his senses. He starts frowning, and looks around his room. “Are you still here?”

Wonwoo lets out a shaky breath and sends out a gush of wind that hits Mingyu in the face.

“Okay,” Mingyu mumbles after a moment of surprise. “I—Okay… C-Can I, uh, see you?”

The words make Wonwoo’s heart thunder heavily in his chest, and his throat swells. He doesn’t know what to do. It’s up to Mingyu wether he wants to see Wonwoo or not. 

Wonwoo shakily lifts his head and twists his fingers, to make the snowflakes twirl around Mingyu prettily, almost like they’re dancing.

Mingyu stares at it and chuckles, sniffling once before slowly looking up again. And then he freezes, and his eyes widen. “Woah! ”

Wonwoo staggers back, frowning, stopping his motions. The snow stops falling as he loses focus, all his attention on the boy in front of him, who’s currently staring in his direction—

No.

No, Mingyu is staring _at_  him.

Wonwoo can barely breathe, and he doesn’t dare move, not wanting to lose the illusion of Mingyu actually being able to see him.

“Holy c-crap—“ Mingyu stutters, looking disturbed and scared but there’s a hint of curiosity in his eyes, and Wonwoo desperately clings to it. “Y-You’re—You’re here. How—what? D-Did you just do that? The snow?”

Time seems frozen for a moment, and Wonwoo feels like this is just another dream. One he’ll wake up from soon, invisible to the whole world.

“You can _see_ me?” Wonwoo asks shakily.

Mingyu gapes at the sound of Wonwoo’s deep voice, and nervously nods his head. “Am I not supposed to?”

“No one has before.” Wonwoo gulps, can’t even try to tear his gaze away from Mingyu’s still frightened face. 

“No one?”

“No human,” Wonwoo corrects himself. “You’re the first one. I—I can’t believe this is happening. Can you really see me?”

Mingyu nods his head and gulps. “Your hair is silver. It’s sparkling.”

Wonwoo smiles and sees Mingyu’s eyes flicker down to his lips. “Magic.”

“Magic,” Mingyu repeats as if in a daze. “Am I dreaming?” Mingyu starts frowning, his eyes frantically scanning Wonwoo from head to toe. “Please tell me I’m dreaming. I’m—starting to freak out.”

“No. No you’re not dreaming,” Wonwoo carefully says. He licks his lips, thinking his actions through. The last thing he wants is to scare the boy even further. “I’m real. I’m a spirit. Like the Sandman, or the tooth fairy… Santa Clause?”

“I know who they are, but they’re just myths. Right?” Mingyu asks, his eyebrows furrowing. “For kids. To make them happy.”

Wonwoo shakes his head. “They’re all real. Adults just stop believing in them when they grow up, which is why they can’t see us anymore.” He rolls his eyes. “But kids can!”

“But you just said no one’s ever seen you before.”

Wonwoo’s face falls a little. “Kids, uh. They don’t really believe in Jack Frost, I guess.”

“Jack Frost?” Mingyu raises his eyebrows. “Is that actually your name?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. “Nah, that’s just what people call me.”

“Then what is your name?”

“Wonwoo.”

“Wonwoo?” Mingyu tilts his head. “That sounds… human.” 

Wonwoo smiles a little. “Well. Makes sense. I used to be a human.”

Mingyu’s mouth for a little O. “What? How? I’m so confused.”

Wonwoo is about to answer when he feels a tug in his mind.

Duty calls. He’s already spent too much time here, said too much. He needs to go, even though he wants to stay a little longer.

“I need to go,” Wonwoo says and walks towards the window.

Mingyu suddenly scrambles to stand up, an alarmed look on his face. “Are you going to come back?”

Wonwoo turns to glance at him. “Do you want me to?”

Mingyu licks his lips and shrugs, looking away. “I just… I kind of want this to be real? But I have a bad fever so if I wake up tomorrow I’ll just assume this was a dream.”

“I’ll come back if you want me to.” 

Mingyu hesitantly nods his head. “O-Okay.”

“You should wear more when you go out. It’s just going to get colder from now on. You didn’t catch a cold over nothing, you know?”

Mingyu frowns. “Wait… on campus and then when that car nearly hit me… the coat, the gloves— That was all you?”

Wonwoo smiles. “Sure it was me.”

“Why?”

“Because you kept walking around in spring clothes, and it made me feel bad because I bring cold weather.”

He moves to open the window and hears Mingyu come closer.

“Wait! Have you been stalking me? How do you know what I wear?”

“Stalking?”

“You know… following me around without me knowing?” Mingyu starts looking scared again.

Wonwoo frowns. “I wasn’t following you around. I just happened to spot you a few times. I’m not a creep.”

Mingyu gulps. “O-Okay… So you’ll come back?”

“If you start dressing warmer, I will.”

“Okay,” Mingyu quickly replies. “I will.”

“Good.”

Mingyu stares at him and nods. “Good.”

Wonwoo smiles and opens the window, about to jump out when Mingyu’s voice stops him again.

“Mingyu,” He says. “That’s my name.”

_I know_ , he wants to say, but seeing as how creeped out Mingyu was before at the thought of Wonwoo having potentially been following him around, he decides against it.

Wonwoo nods his head and winks. “See you later, Mingyu.”

 

 

. * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

 

The next day is busy for Wonwoo. 

Okay, no, it really isn’t. There’s only so many blizzards Wonwoo can get away with before humans start to think that the end of the world is near. But he tries to convince himself into believing he’s busy and his services are needed elsewhere, so he doesn’t do something stupid, like show up at Mingyu’s place first thing in the morning.

Wonwoo is just… excited. 

As much as Mingyu probably expects to wake up and realize everything that happened the night before was nothing but a dream, Wonwoo could say the same thing.

He’s honestly too scared to face the boy again, doesn’t think he could handle it if the boy looked right through him again like everyone else does.

Wonwoo was awake all night, staring up at the moon, asking questions to the man up there, knowing he’d be met with nothing but silence as usual. All he could think about was the feeling of his skin tingling when Mingyu had looked at him.

_At_ him. Not through him. 

And now, the sun is setting, and Wonwoo knows that if there is the slightest chance that Mingyu really does want to see him again, it’s now.

It still takes him another two hours to gather himself before Wonwoo finally teleports to Mingyu’s apartment complex. He stands in front of it on the street and tilts his head back to look up at Mingyu’s window. The lights are on, so the boy is definitely at home.

Wonwoo gulps and pushes himself off the ground to fly up, coming to a stop in front of Mingyu’s bedroom window.

He isn’t sure what he was expecting to see, but it definitely wasn’t for Mingyu to be sitting right in front of the window, peering out with tired eyes, his chin resting on his knees where he’s got his arms wrapped around them. 

For a moment, Wonwoo forgets that he isn’t invisible anymore, and he wants to use it to look at the boy, his ruffled hair and over sized sweater, the little pout on his lips that… _does_ something to Wonwoo, something he can’t quite understand.

But then Mingyu’s eyes widen, and he jumps to his feet and stares at Wonwoo, both of them staying like that for a few seconds before Mingyu slowly steps forward and opens his window. 

“H-Hey.” The boy quickly backs away so Wonwoo can come inside. “You’re real,” He mumbles once Wonwoo is inside.

“And you can still see me.”  


Mingyu nods and swallows nervously. “Seems like it.”

“Did you wear the coat?”

“Yeah,” Mingyu answers.

“Did you want me to visit you that badly?”

“No!” Mingyu shakes his head and scoffs. “It was cold. Thanks to you.”  


Wonwoo sighs and leans back against the wall. “Don’t make feel guilty about it, please. I tried to keep the temperatures up but it got me in trouble.”  


Mingyu startles at that, blinking at Wonwoo curiously. “Huh? Why would you do that?”

“So you wouldn’t be cold,” Wonwoo answers honestly.

He must’ve said the wrong thing, because suddenly Mingyu’s cheeks turn red and he turns away from Wonwoo with a strange sound. “That’s ridiculous. _This_ is ridiculous.”

Wonwoo nibbles on his lower lip, fiddles with his fingers. He’s worried he’s going to mess all of this up and Mingyu won’t want to see him again. “I’m sorry?”  


Mingyu sighs and turns to look at him again, his expression back to normal. “Don’t apologize… It’s just. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around all of this. You can understand, right? I mean, dude, you made it snow yesterday. Inside my bedroom!”

Wonwoo grins at that. “I can do a lot more stuff than that.”

The other boy’s eyes narrow. “Like what?”

Wonwoo’s grin widens, and in the blink of an eye, he’s standing right behind Mingyu. “Like this,” He breathes against the boy’s ear, only to have him gasp in shock and duck away.

“Fuck! D-Don’t— Don’t do that! Are you crazy? What was that?”

“I teleported.”

“You teleported! Of course! Holy fuck!”  


“I can also fly?”  


Mingyu whimpers, and then proceeds to smile like someone who has lost his mind. “G-Great. Go ahead.”

Wonwoo frowns at the obvious concerning look on the boy’s face but does as he’s told, slowly pushing off the ground so he’s hovering in the air.

Mingyu starts to cry.

 

 

“Are you okay now?”

About ten minutes later, they’re both sitting on each end of the carpet in the middle of Mingyu’s bedroom. The boy is still sniffling a little, but he has calmed down a little.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry if I freaked you out. But you wanted to see.”

Mingyu looks embarrassed as he shrugs his shoulders. He pulls at the sleeves of his sweater until his hands are covered, and something about the gesture makes Wonwoo’s chest tingle. “I wasn’t prepared.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

This makes the other boy lift his head and meet his eyes. He slowly shakes his head. “Can you tell me more about yourself? Where you come from? What you do?”

Wonwoo looks down at the patterns in the carpet. His feet are a little dirty, and he feels slightly embarrassed about his whole appearance. He’s wearing worn out pants that look like they’re three sizes too small on him. At least his hoodie looks kind of cool. Kind of. 

“I’m not even supposed to be talking to you.” 

Mingyu tilts his head. “Why not?”

“Only children are supposed to know about our existence,” Wonwoo explains, looking into the boy’s warm eyes to see if he understands.

Mingyu bites down on his lower lip. “Well… I’m still kind of a child at heart, if that helps?”  


It makes Wonwoo smile. Mingyu smiles back, even if it’s a little hesitant and barely there. “You wouldn’t be able to see me right now if you weren’t.”

“Am I really the first person who’s seen you?” When Wonwoo nods, Mingyu’s eyes grow a little soft, a little… sad around the edges. “Isn’t that lonely?”  


Wonwoo’s smile falters, but he pushes through it. “Nah. I’m fine. I can fly and stuff. That’s cool.”

Mingyu keeps looking at him in silence, and Wonwoo supposes he wasn’t as convincing as he wanted to be. “I won’t tell anyone about you, if you’re worried about that.”  


“I’m not worried about anything,” Wonwoo mutters. “It’s the big guys in the spirit world who’ll be angry if someone finds out.”

“But… I found out, didn’t I?” Mingyu asks, looking mildly worried. 

“Don’t worry,” Wonwoo is quick to say. “Nothing will happen to you.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”  


“Will _you_ be okay?”  


“Oh. Yeah. Don’t worry about me. Wouldn’t be the first time I screwed up.” Wonwoo grins at the boy, who’s peering at him through his long bangs. Wonwoo doesn’t know why he’s having such a hard time not staring. Wonwoo can’t help but take in all of the boy’s features, from his red lips to his nose to the glow on his skin. It’s like he can’t get enough of it. 

Wonwoo doesn’t spare humans a second glance, usually. He doesn’t know what makes Mingyu so different, enough for it to catch Wonwoo’s attention the second he’d laid eyes on the boy that day on campus.

“Why are you staring at me all the time?”

“I like your face,” Wonwoo answers.

Mingyu sucks in a breath and his cheeks do that thing again. “You’re really… blunt.”

“I know. Sorry.” 

“No, no it’s. Fine. It’s refreshing.”  


“How so?”

Mingyu shrugs and purses his lips. “Most people aren’t like that anymore. Honest, I mean.”

Wonwoo hums. “The other spirits tell me I’m too insensitive. Because I just say what’s on my mind.”  


Mingyu chuckles. “I’ll believe that in a heartbeat.”

“I’m trying to hold back,” Wonwoo mumbles with a pout. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

The other boy just shakes his head. “You know, if you were anyone else, I might get that the wrong way.”

“Anyone else?”

“You know, a normal guy.”

Wonwoo stills. “Normal.”

Mingyu seems to realize what he just said, his mouth opening and closing for a moment. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean— you’re like supernatural. You’re not just like any other person… That’s what I meant.”  


“Oh.” Wonwoo purses his lips, unable to stop his eyebrows from furrowing. 

“Hey…” Mingyu looks weird when Wonwoo meets his eyes again. It might be concern, but Wonwoo isn’t sure. “Can you make it snow again? Just a little?”

Wonwoo smiles and nods, making little, sparkly snowflakes appear in the air between them. He watches with a warm feeling in his chest, how Mingyu’s lips stretch into a smile. “You go to school.”  


Mingyu takes a second to tear his eyes away from the pretty snowflakes. “Yeah.”

“What do you study?”  


“I want to become a nurse,” Mingyu says with a smile. “I’m in my second year now.”

“A nurse,” Wonwoo repeats. “Woah. That’s cool.”

“Says the guy who can fly and teleport.”

Wonwoo laughs, and he watches how Mingyu holds his breath, his eyes flickering over Wonwoo’s face in a way that has his skin tingling. “You’ll be saving lives. That beats everything else in my book.” 

“Hm.” Mingyu shrugs his shoulders. “What about you? What would you be studying if you could?”  


“Well…” Wonwoo purses his lips. “I was getting a business degree before I became—” he gestures down on himself “—this. Not sure if that was my dream, though. I can’t remember a lot from that time, to be honest.”

Mingyu shakes his head. “That’s so weird. I have… so many questions.”

“I can imagine. But… please don’t ask. Because I can’t answer.”

“Can I ask one thing, though?”

Wonwoo sighs. “Okay. One question.”

“How old are you?”

“Oh.” Wonwoo tilts his head. It’s been a long time since someone asked him that. “I was twenty-two when I became a spirit. And I’ve been doing this for almost five years now.” 

“So you’re twenty-seven?” Mingyu asks, surprised.

Wonwoo shakes his head. “Well— I guess, technically I am. But I stopped ageing when I turned. My body’s still twenty-two.”

“Yeah, you look way too young to be twenty-seven.”

Wonwoo raises an eyebrow. “Was that a compliment?”

Mingyu scoffs, his cheeks going a little red again. “It was a mere observation.”  


They look at each other and start smiling, and Wonwoo feels light for once. Not light in that empty way, where everything seems weak, and boring, and just so monotone where days blend into each other with no change whatsoever. 

He feels light in a good way. Happy, for a moment. 

“Do you live here alone?” Wonwoo asks after a moment where they both watch the snowflakes floating in the air between them. 

Mingyu’s smile falters a little. “Yeah.” 

“But you have friends. I saw you with that guy the other day—“

Wonwoo stops himself, raising a hand to hold it against his mouth as Mingyu raises an eyebrow at him. “Again, about that stalker thing—“

“That was literally the second time I saw you!”  


Mingyu sighs. “I don’t know who you saw me with. I have friends. I just live on my own.” 

“What about your family?”  


Mingyu shrugs and looks away. Seeing the shadow cross his pretty brown eyes, Wonwoo wants to take his question back. “I don’t talk to them much.” 

Wonwoo looks at the boy, can practically feel the sadness that suddenly started to surround him. It has no place there, Wonwoo thinks, and wants to chase it away. He flicks his hand, and makes the sparkly snowflakes dance around in front of Mingyu’s face until the boy blinks, and starts laughing. 

“We have that in common,” Wonwoo says after a while.

“What?”

“We’re both lonely, in a way.”  


Mingyu looks at him for a long time, before his lips tug into a sad smile. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” 

 

 

. * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

 

It becomes sort of a routine, then.

Wonwoo showing up at Mingyu’s bedroom window late at night, Mingyu letting him in. 

Wonwoo hears about Mingyu’s day, and Wonwoo tells him about the countries he’d visited that day. 

After the third time they meet, Mingyu starts offering Wonwoo food. When Wonwoo explains that he technically doesn’t _need_ to eat to survive, being immortal and all, Mingyu’s lips form a pout.

He’d spent a while cooking that dinner for them, and who the heck would Wonwoo be to turn him down like that?

So they start eating dinner together almost every night, and his little get-togethers with Mingyu start to become Wonwoo’s favorite thing in the world. 

Something to look forward to.

It’s still a little awkward at first; Mingyu might’ve accepted that Wonwoo is a spirit, but whenever Wonwoo uses his powers, Mingyu still looks like he’s ten seconds away from having a meltdown. 

So yeah, it takes a while for Mingyu to get used to it and stop questioning his own sanity. 

He also understands why they can’t meet up anywhere else. People would think he was crazy if he walked around the streets chatting to Wonwoo, since it would look like he was talking to thin air. 

Wonwoo finds out more and more about the boy too, since Mingyu isn’t a closed off person at all.

His favorite color is yellow, his favorite food is fried rice with chicken, his favorite drink is strawberry milk, his favorite movie is called Midnight in Paris, and when Wonwoo tells him he has no idea what that is, Mingyu shows it to him. 

Wonwoo watches his first movie in years that night, and when Mingyu falls asleep an hour into the movie on the couch, Wonwoo’s eyes stray from the laptop screen to the boy softly snoring next to him. 

Wonwoo’s heart does something weird. It skips a beat, gives two heavy thumps, and when Wonwoo’s eyes trail over Mingyu’s peaceful face, his heart starts beating again, only a lot faster than before.

The incident leaves Wonwoo anxious and confused, but like many things, he shrugs it off. 

Mingyu is easy to read, and he gives away his laughter and smiles so easily whenever Wonwoo is with him.

It makes Wonwoo wonder if Mingyu is like that with everyone else, too. A part of him wants to believe that Mingyu is only like this when he’s with him, but that’s stupid. 

They’ve only known each other for a while, and why would someone like Wonwoo, a _myth_ to the rest of the world, mean anything to a human?

This goes on for a while, and Wonwoo has yet to hear anything from the spirit world. Either the guys over there haven’t noticed what he’s been up to yet, or they (for some reason) are turning a blind eye to it. Wonwoo guesses he should be at least a little worried, but not hearing anything from them means he gets to spend more time with Mingyu, and that’s really the only thing that matters to him.

November slowly starts to blend into December, and the weather gets even colder. 

Wonwoo always makes sure Mingyu doesn’t leave his apartment unless he’s entirely bundled up.

Mingyu doesn’t get sick again.

 

 

. * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

 

“Can I ask you something?”

Wonwoo looks up from the board game they’re playing, and snorts. “You’re going to ask no matter if I say yes or no, Mingyu.”

Mingyu grins at this and reaches out to take a sip from his coke. “Alright, so. You said you’ve been a spirit for five years?”

“Yeah.”

“So. I mean, you’ve clearly must’ve seen people you found attractive,” Mingyu mumbles. “You know, someone you wanted to get to know better”?

Wonwoo stares at Mingyu and wonders if the boy is asking that on purpose. “Maybe,” He carefully says.

Mingyu’s grin widens. “And have you ever tried to get in touch with them?”

“I already told you, you’re the first human who’s seen me.”

“I know that, but I’m just saying. You know, technically. Did you want to?”

Wonwoo narrows his eyes, wonders if Mingyu is really as dense as he pretends to be. Does he really not realize that Wonwoo and him are talking right now, just because Wonwoo tried to get Mingyu to see him? He decides to push the thought away. It doesn’t matter. “Not really. I mean… aside from the fact I’d get in huge trouble for that, who would agree to that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m invisible, Mingyu,” Wonwoo quietly says. “I couldn’t go out and eat dinner with anyone. I couldn’t go the movies. They couldn’t introduce me to their family or friends. It would be a freaking nightmare.”

“Hey… don’t say that,” Mingyu mumbles with a pout. “You’re a good guy. I’m sure there are people out there who’d sacrifice those things to be with you.”

Wonwoo raises his eyebrow at the boy, who awkwardly clears his throat and pulls out a random card from the stash on the board game. “Would _you_?”

Mingyu makes a weird noise, between a whine and a groan, and it makes Wonwoo smile in amusement. The boy starts blushing and shakes his head. “I just— I m-meant in general! Not me, okay? Shut up. I don’t like you.”

“Damn, ow.” Wonwoo laughs as he holds the left side of his chest. “You could’ve let me down easy, Mingyu.”  


“Oh, shut up,” Mingyu mumbles, his cheeks completely red at this point. His eyes flicker up to meet Wonwoo’s, the spirit grinning at him teasingly.

They both start laughing at the same time.

 

 

. * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

 

No matter how cheerful Mingyu is most of the time, there are moments where the student grows quiet and gets a distant look in his eyes.

Like right now.

He’s finishing an assignment he has to hand in by midnight, and Wonwoo is just there for moral support as he can’t really help him otherwise. Mingyu is sitting at his desk, his face illuminated by his laptop, and Wonwoo is on Mingyu’s bed, watching him work silently. Mingyu’s tongue is sticking out in concentration as he types, and the sight makes Wonwoo smile.

“Almost done,” Mingyu mutters as he leans back in his chair, bringing his knuckles up to rub his tired eyes. “I just need to send it now.”

“Hurry up so you can go to sleep.” Wonwoo takes in the boy’s dark circles under his pretty eyes and wonders if he was like this, too. Probably not, though. Wonwoo never really liked school, and his grades always were just good enough for him to pass, but that was really it. Mingyu, on the other hand, is hard working and wants to do well in everything he does, which is another thing Wonwoo finds so admirable about him.

Mingyu glances at him and smiles faintly. “You don’t have to stay here, you know. It must be boring for you.”

“No.” Wonwoo purses his lips and shakes his head. “I want to keep you company.”

Mingyu’s smile falters a little. “It’s fine, Wonwoo. I’m used to being alone.” 

“Well. You shouldn’t be,” Wonwoo replies, frowning, and decides to ask the boy something that’s been on his mind for a while now. “You never mention your family. How come?”

The question makes Mingyu tense up. He looks away and turns to face his laptop again, his eyes hard. “I told you I don’t talk to them.”

“At all?”

Mingyu gives a curt nod of his head.

“But why?” Wonwoo wants to know. “They’re your family.”

“I know, okay?” Mingyu snaps, and Wonwoo flinches, not having seen Mingyu so angry before. It takes him aback, the sudden anger in Mingyu’s eyes. But they soften almost immediately after noticing Wonwoo’s reaction. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine,” Wonwoo mutters. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

Mingyu shakes his head, and his shoulders droop. It’s silent for a while, before Mingyu lets out a sigh. “My parents aren’t together anymore. They split up the Summer before I went off to college.”

Wonwoo really shouldn’t have asked. “I’m sorry, Mingyu."

“It’s fine. They were always fighting, ever since I can remember. My dad was a gambler, so we always had a lot of problems because of him. He was an asshole. Took his anger out on us all the time. And then mom kicked him out, and she met this… banker dude. He’s this uptight, traditional guy. He wears these ugly khaki shorts and sandals all the damn time.”

Wonwoo chuckles and Mingyu gives him a tiny smile. “Sound like a catch.”

“Oh, yeah. He’s against any form of change, and he kind of… I don’t know. I guess when I left for college, he was a shoulder to cry on for mom. She didn’t have anyone else. He completely brainwashed her. I can barely recognize her whenever I go back, and all they both do is tell me how basically everything I do is wrong. I haven’t seen her in almost a year now.”

Wonwoo can’t do anything but stare at the boy helplessly, curing himself for not being able to keep his mouth shut. But maybe, Mingyu needed to get the words off his chest, too. It seems like it. Mingyu rarely talks about himself. It’s always other people, the nice lady from downstairs, the adorable grandpa from the bakery he goes to every morning, his friends from school.

“My parents were alcoholics,” Wonwoo says, instead of telling Mingyu how sorry he is. “I hated them.”

Mingyu’s head snaps up at that, sniffling. “You remember them?”

“I remember bits and pieces. Like, moments that evoked strong emotions in me.” Wonwoo shrugs. “You didn’t deserve that, Mingyu.”

“You didn’t either,” Mingyu answers. “But it’s fine. It could be worse. I like my life how it is now. We just have to do make the best of every situation, right?”

Wonwoo shakes his head, eyes entirely focused on Mingyu’s own. “You’re really impressive, you know that?”

“I’m not.” Mingyu lowers his gaze, his cheeks growing pink. It’s almost funny, how Mingyu can’t seem to control his bodily reactions. Again, he’s like an open book, and suddenly Wonwoo feels a wave of protectiveness wash over him, wondering if people take advantage of him. He knows how humans can be, and Mingyu ist just… well, he’s too nice.

“Can you hurry up with your assignment?” Wonwoo asks suddenly.

“Why?”

“I want to go outside.”

Mingyu’s lips part and he looks a little disappointed. “Oh—I told you you could leave. You don’t have to wait here.”

“No, Mingyu, I want to go outside with  _you_.”

“But… people might see.”

“It’s late and it’s a weekday. There won’t be many people around. I want to show you something.”

Mingyu seems to mull over the idea for a moment before he smiles, bites down on his lower lip to contain it. “Okay. Give me ten minutes.”

Wonwoo grins and nods his head.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

“Wonwoo, it’s cold…”

“We’re almost there. Stop whining.”

“Can’t you just teleport me there? It would be so much faster.”

“I’m not allowed to, sorry.”

“Damn, why is the spirit world so strict?”

“Like you guys don’t have a dozen laws and regulations here.” Wonwoo scoffs and glances at the boy next to him. 

Mingyu is wearing his thick coat, the gloves and hat Wonwoo gave him giving him extra cover against the cold air of the night. Like Wonwoo predicted, the streets are practically deserted.

The sky is clear, stars sparkling above them, and whenever Mingyu talks, white clouds puff out of his mouth. His nose and cheeks are already all red, and the sight makes Wonwoo strangely happy. 

Wonwoo steers Mingyu into the park most people use for morning runs or picnic dates. It must be prettier in the summer, but Wonwoo can only assume, as he’s never seen it differently.

“Are you sure you’re not cold?” Mingyu asks him, glancing at Wonwoo’s bare feet, his exposed ankles, the thin hoodie he’s wearing.

“Yeah, Mingyu. Honestly, these temperatures feel to me like what spring feels to you guys.”

“Yeah I just—okay.” Mingyu sighs and looks away again, shivering as he burrows deeper into his coat. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

Wonwoo nods as he leads Mingyu towards the centre of the park, where there’s an open field of grass with no trees or benches. Just a wide, open space. “Sure.”

“Are we going to have a white Christmas this year? I’d assume you would know, since you control the weather and all.”

Wonwoo grins. “Why do you think I would tell you?”

“Because we’re friends?” Mingyu beams at him cutely, his smile wide and showing his pearly white teeth.

Wonwoo scoffs. “Oh, are we?”

“Well, aren’t we?”

“We can be anything you want us to be, Mingyu,” Wonwoo says without thinking too much of it.

Mingyu, on the other hand, startles at the statement, and since his cheeks are already so red, the only way Wonwoo can tell that the boy is blushing is when he turns his face away very quickly. “Okay, so we’re friends. You have to tell me, now.”

“Just wait and see, Mingyu.” Wonwoo rolls his eyes. “Isn’t that what makes it exciting? Checking if there’s snow when you wake up on Christmas Eve?”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point.” 

“And why do you care about snow anyway? I thought you hated winter?”

Mingyu gives him a wary look. “That was when I was freezing my balls off on a daily basis.”

“So you don’t hate it anymore?”

“Wouldn’t that be like me hating you?”

“Well… yeah, in a way.” 

“And do I hate you?”

“I don’t know. Do you?”

“Stop countering my questions with more questions." Mingyu sends him a half hearted glare. "But... I think you would know if I hated you, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo glances at him, and Mingyu returns his look, both of them starting to smile and looking away rather shyly. “Okay. Stand here,” Wonwoo says after they reach the middle of the field, and he guides Mingyu by his shoulder. 

Mingyu chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. “Now what?”

“Close your eyes.”

“Oh, hell no!”

“Come on! Don’t you trust me?”

Mingyu still looks conflicted. “Promise you won’t do anything scary?"

Wonwoo’s features soften as he gives Mingyu a reassuring smile. “I promise. Close your eyes for me, alright?”

Mingyu gives him a nervous smile and does as he’s told. “How long?”

“Until I tell you to open them,” Wonwoo replies. “We don’t have much time, because no one else can see this, okay?”

“See what?” Mingyu asks.

Wonwoo turns to face the night sky.  _You there Jihoon?_

Jihoon, the Aurora spirit, replies almost instantly.  _I’m here. I can only give you seconds. I don’t want to get in trouble._

Wonwoo nods his head.  _Don’t worry. If anyone notices, I’ll tell them I forced you, okay?_

Jihoon hums in agreement, and when Wonwoo starts to see the faintest glow of green appear in the sky above them, he turns around and pulls Mingyu closer. “Open your eyes.”

Mingyu blinks his eyes open and stares at Wonwoo in confusion. “What are you—“

“Look up,” Wonwoo urges, and is relieved to see that Mingyu lifts his head just in time to see the colors expand in the sky above them. Like three dimensional waves, streaks of translucent green, blue, and pink blend together above them. Mingyu gasps and staggers back, his back hitting Wonwoo’s chest, who chuckles at the awed look on Mingyu’s face. The colors start moving, like a flag in a mild breeze, and even if Wonwoo has seen northern lights hundreds of times, he’s still taken aback by the beauty of it.

“Wonwoo—“ Mingyu seems to have stopped breathing, and his hand reaches back to grip Wonwoo’s wrist, as if to ground himself. Wonwoo’s eyes flicker to the touch, and suddenly he’s the one who can’t breathe, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion at how fast his heart suddenly is beating. “How is this possible?”

Wonwoo forces himself to focus on Mingyu’s voice despite the rush of emotions he suddenly feels. “My friend, he’s the Aurora spirit. He controls them, so I asked him for a favor. I really wanted you to see them.”

Mingyu breathes out shakily and starts beaming. “This is unreal! That’s—It’s like magic!”

Wonwoo smiles, the glowing colors dancing across Mingyu’s face, making his big eyes sparkle like the ones of a curious child. Wonwoo feels like his insides soften at the sight, and he suddenly wants to pull Mingyu closer, to feel how happy and excited he is. “You like it?”

“Yes! It’s so pretty,” Mingyu whispers, never once looking away.

The lights last for a few more seconds before slowly starting to fade away again. Mingyu makes a disappointed sound. 

“Sorry. We can’t risk anyone else seeing them. They’re not supposed to appear in this region at all, you know. People would freak out.”

Mingyu stares for another second before turning around to face him. “You— that was really for me?”

Wonwoo meekly nods his head. “You’ve been working so hard for school. I thought you needed a break.”

“But… Wonwoo, why would you do that?”

“I wanted to make you happy."

Mingyu blinks at him, and Wonwoo feels like it’s the first time Mingyu is looking at him.  _Really_ looking at him. “You’re… breaking so many rules… for  _me_?”

Wonwoo shrugs. “I break rules all the time. But I mean. Yeah. This was for you. Did it work?”

“A-Are you asking if I’m happy?” Mingyu asks, his eyes almost frantically running over Wonwoo’s face, his fingers tightening around Wonwoo’s arm from where he’s still holding on to him.

“Yeah.”  


“I am,” Mingyu whispers, and his eyes start shimmering a little. They’re standing quite close together, in the silence of the night, under the sparkling stars, the air so cold it seems that the whole world has frozen, except for them. “I’m really happy, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo smiles. “I’m glad. You deserve to be happy.”

Mingyu swallows heavily. “Are you happy, too?”

“Right now?”  


Mingyu nods, and Wonwoo wonders why Mingyu suddenly seems so nervous. “Yes.”

“I’m… happy. Because you’re happy.” 

Mingyu chuckles, but he seems so sad, and Wonwoo wishes he could understand what’s going on in his mind. “Then I will make sure to always be happy.”

Wonwoo grins and nods his head. “Sounds good.”

The other boy sniffles a little, and lets go of Wonwoo’s arm, and Wonwoo pretends he doesn’t miss the touch almost immediately.

They leave after that, and Mingyu gets weirdly quiet again, seems almost a little jittery whenever Wonwoo tries to strike up a conversation.

Wonwoo figures the boy is just tired, so he decides to leave him alone for today, and wonders if there’s always been this warmth between them whenever they said their goodbyes for the day.

When Mingyu watches Wonwoo climb out the window, there’s something in his eyes, like something unspoken, and Wonwoo can’t help but feel worried. But when he’s about to ask if everything is alright, Mingyu gives him a warm smile, and Wonwoo decides it’s enough for now. 

 

 

. * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

 

One night, Wonwoo shows up to an empty bedroom. 

The lights aren’t on, and Mingyu doesn’t seem to be home. Wonwoo frowns and tries to remember if Mingyu mentioned anything to him about not being there tonight, but he’s pretty sure he’d know if that was the case. 

Wonwoo figures he should leave, but he can’t help but wonder where Mingyu is. It’s pretty late, and it’s pretty cold outside.

So instead, he flies up to the roof, and sits down on the edge of it. He’ll know when Mingyu gets home; he just needs to make sure that the boy is okay, and didn’t freeze to death in the cold night.

Wonwoo doesn’t know how long he sits there, but Mingyu does show up a while later, and Wonwoo is quick jump off the roof and fly down to Mingyu’s bedroom window.

The boy appears inside a moment later, looking a little tired as he flicks on the light to his room. His eyes immediately go to the window, and Wonwoo watches Mingyu’s face fall as he hurries to open the window to let Wonwoo in.

“Did you wait here all night?”  


“No,” Wonwoo lies, looking a little sheepish as he climbs inside and dusts off his clothes. Mingyu sighs and closes the window, and Wonwoo only now notices what Mingyu’s wearing.

Tight black jeans with a lose button up shirt. His usually messy hair is styled neatly, and he smells different, too. An artificial, dark smell mixed with a hint of nicotine.

It kind of rubs Wonwoo the wrong way. Mingyu usually smells a lot sweeter. 

“You smell bad,” He says.

Mingyu snorts as he sits down on his bed. “Thanks. I was at a bar.”

Wonwoo tilts his head. “You drink?”

“Sometimes.” Mingyu purses his lips. “Aren’t you going to ask me who I went with?”

“Is that important?”

Mingyu looks at him, almost a little disappointed. “Kinda, yeah.”

“Okay. Who did you go with?” 

“His name’s Jaebum,” Mingyu mumbles, fiddling with the hem of his fancy shirt. “He asked me out.”

Wonwoo opens his mouth and closes it again, his eyebrows furrowing. “What?”  


Mingyu peers up at him, a strange look in his eyes. “On a date.”

Oh. That rings a bell.

Mingyu… had a _date_.

That’s why he’s dressed up like that, why he smells like that, why he couldn’t meet Wonwoo tonight.

Wonwoo doesn’t know what it is, but suddenly he feels all wrong. His chest is too tight, and his stomach is in knots.

He doesn't like that at  _all_.

Mingyu never dresses up when Wonwoo comes over. 

“Oh.” Wonwoo nods his head, unable to stop himself from frowning. “How, uhm. Was it?” 

Mingyu shrugs, and then shakes his head. “Not that good.”  


“Why not?” Wonwoo asks, growing more upset by the minute. Who the heck is that guy? He gets the chance to go out with Mingyu and then doesn’t make it his mission to make sure that it’ll be the best date Mingyu’s ever been on? “Did he do something to you?”

Mingyu smiles a little. “No. I guess we just didn’t click. He’s older than me. By the end of it he said I wasn’t… mature enough for him.” 

“Well, he’s a dick if he said that to you.” Wonwoo scoffs. “Do you want me to freeze up his car engine or something?”

That finally gets a chuckle out of Mingyu, and the tight feeling in Wonwoo’s chest eases a little. “No— No, it’s okay, Wonwoo. Thank you, though.” 

Wonwoo can tell that Mingyu is still upset about what this douchebag said to him, so he slowly walks over to the bed and sits down next to Mingyu, making sure to leave some space between them. “I think you’re very mature. You live by yourself. You’re a good student. You’re kind and funny. You’re the best cook I know. I wish you would take better care of yourself sometimes, but other than that, I don’t know why that shit head would think of you as immature.” 

Wonwoo turns to look at Mingyu after finishing his speech, and finds that the boy is already staring at him with a foreign look in his warm eyes. Mingyu gulps and looks away quickly. “Do you date in the spirit world?”  


“Hm. I wouldn’t say _date_ ,” Wonwoo answers. “But spirits can grow quite fond of each other. Two of my friends are something like partners, actually. It’s not exactly how you humans are together, but it’s close to it. It’s almost like a soul bond, if you will.”  


Mingyu nods his head. “And… do you have someone from there you are fond of?”

“No,” Wonwoo answers honestly. “I’m not that fond of the spirit world in general. You should know that by now.”

Mingyu smiles. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” 

And Wonwoo doesn’t dare let himself hope, but he thinks Mingyu looks almost relieved, even if that makes absolutely no sense. 

“Do you want me to leave?” Wonwoo asks after a while. “It’s pretty late. You have school tomorrow.”  


Mingyu bites down on his lower lip. “I… I mean, if you want to leave that’s fine.” 

“I never really want to leave you,” Wonwoo mumbles, sucking in a breath when Mingyu looks up at him in shock, realizing what Wonwoo just said. “Because that means I have to get back to work!” He quickly adds to save his sorry ass.

Mingyu smiles nervously. “Yeah, of course. You can stay here, if you want.” 

Wonwoo nods and quietly watches Mingyu get ready for bed. There’s something peaceful about it all, calming and comforting as Mingyu gets rid of his outfit and washes off that fake smell and comes back as the Mingyu Wonwoo has gotten so used to.

His skin is gloving, a little red from the hot shower, and his hair is spiked at the tips. Mingyu smiles at Wonwoo and climbs into the bed, patting the space next to him.

“You want me to…”

Mingyu nods, his smile fading when it gets no reaction from Wonwoo, and he takes it as rejection. As if Wonwoo could ever say no to him. 

So Wonwoo lies down on the soft mattress, right on the edge of it, and on top of the covers, but instead of Making Mingyu happy, it makes the boy frown. 

“What are you doing?”

Wonwoo clears his throat. “You asked me to lie down?”

“Yeah, but… you’re too far away. And you’ll get cold like that.”

“Mingyu. I’m always cold.”

Mingyu smiles softly. “I’ll warm you up.”

So Wonwoo lies down under the covers, close enough to feel the warmth of Mingyu’s skin on his chilly limbs. Mingyu shuffles around and lifts his arm, his hand hovering above Wonwoo’s arm. Wonwoo follows all his movement like a scared animal, not sure what to expect, or what Mingyu wants from him. 

“Can I?”

“Can you what?”

“Cuddle you?”

Wonwoo gulps nervously, his heart thudding heavily in his ribcage. “I… I’m really cold Mingyu. You’ll get cold.”

_Stay away,_ he wants to say, but he doesn’t want to worry Mingyu with all this bottled up anxiety he’s been carrying around with him for years. 

Mingyu looks into his eyes, and moves closer, slowly and carefully, and rests his hand on Wonwoo’s clothed shoulder. The contact is fine through the hoodie, and Wonwoo is taken aback by the sudden want for the clothing to be gone, so he can feel Mingyu’s hand on his skin instead. Mingyu slowly moves his hand to Wonwoo’s chest, his eyer trailing down to the touch, but Wonwoo’s own never leave Mingyu’s. 

Mingyu’s thumb rubs over his chest soothingly, and then he moves it until it touches Wonwoo’s neck, the exposed skin there. Mingyu gasps when he feels just how cold Wonwoo’s skin is.

In return, Wonwoo feels like he was burned by the simple touch, the softness and warmth of Mingyu’s skin on his own too much. He grips Mingyu’s wrist gently to stop the boy from moving further. “I told you I’m cold.”

Mingyu gazes into his eyes, their faces only inches apart now. “Does it hurt?”

“What?”

“The cold?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. “I don’t feel it.”

“Do you… did you feel my warmth?”

“Yes.”

“Did that hurt?”

Wonwoo grits his teeth together, and suddenly his chest feels ten times heavier. “Yes. It hurt,” He lies. 

Mingyu immediately pulls away, lowering his gaze, but not fast enough because Wonwoo catches the hurt in the boy’s eyes. “I’m— I’m sorry, I didn’t know…”

Wonwoo swallows despite the painful lump in his throat. He hates this. He hates it so much, that he has to push Mingyu away when all he wants is to pull him closer. Wonwoo doesn’t losen his grip on Mingyu’s wrist, stopping him from pulling away entirely. He guides Mingyu’s hand back to his chest, presses his palm against the soft fabric of his sweater. “It’s fine like this.”

Mingyu finally looks up again, and Wonwoo’s heart lurches at the watery eyes meeting his own. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” 

“I know,” Wonwoo assures him.

Mingyu nods and presses closer, presses his face against Wonwoo’s chest, making it harder to breathe or think straight. He smells like soap, his shampoo making his hair smell sweet and clean, but there is the hint of Mingyu’s own scent underneath, and that’s what Wonwoo craves so badly. He brings his arms up to wrap them around Mingyu’s waist, to pull him closer until he can bury his nose in Mingyu’s soft, damp hair. “Wonwoo?”

Wonwoo hums and closes his eyes, holding the boy against him tightly, not even caring about the fact that Mingyu definitely can feel how fast his heart is beating. He just hopes the boy won’t read too much into it. There’s no way he could explain all these brewing emotions. Not only that, but he’s not allowed. He can’t. “Yes?”

“We’re friends, right?”

_Friends. Friends, friends, friends—_

“… Yeah.”

“Friend are supposed to be there for each other, right?”

“Yeah.”

Mingyu sighs and presses closer into Wonwoo’s chest, his fingers curling into Wonwoo’s sweater and holding on tightly. “So don’t leave, okay?"

Wonwoo licks his lips. “Like, now?"

“Not just now. Just don’t disappear… please.” His voice breaks, and that breaks Wonwoo’s heart

He nods. “Okay. I won’t."

Mingyu falls asleep after a while, and Wonwoo lies next to him with a heavy heart, his eyes gently tracing the soft features of Mingyu’s face. 

Wonwoo wants to trace the outlines of his face, his soft cheeks, the slope of his nose, but he’s too cold, and the last thing he wants is to wake Mingyu up again. All he can do is look, soak in Mingyu’s undeniable beauty, and try to deal with the growing ache beneath his ribs, the senseless longing that’s been consuming his for a while now when it comes to this boy.

“You’re an idiot.”

Wonwoo jumps so hard he almost falls off the bed, a glare etched into his as he turns to stare at Jeonghan. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough,” Jeonghan quietly answers. He looks the same as last time, when Wonwoo saw Mingyu for the first time. He’s not holding an arrow this time, though. Only half of his face is illuminated from the lantern outside. The particles in his eyes make his eyes glow red in the dark, almost eerie. “What are you doing, Wonwoo?”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you doing with that human?” Jeonghan asks. “He can see you.”

“So?” 

“So? It’s forbidden. You know what the guardians will do if they find out.”  


Wonwoo grits his teeth together and looks at Mingyu’s sleeping face again, trying to calm down. “They won’t find out.”

“I have to tell them, you know that,” Jeonghan says, and Wonwoo’s chest starts burning with anger and frustration.

“No, you don’t have to do anything! What you have to do is mind your own business.”

“He could expose all of us, Wonwoo.”

“He wouldn’t,” Wonwoo whispers, gulping heavily as he looks at Mingyu helplessly.

Jeonghan sighs behind him. “You talk of him as if you’ve known him for centuries. Humans only care about themselves. They will turn us into test subjects if they find out.”

“He isn’t like that,” Wonwoo argues. “Mingyu is different.”

“You sound so stupid.” Jeonghan scoffs. “When I saw you seeing him for the first time, I thought it was funny because you alreadly looked head over heels for him. I didn’t think you would actually be stupid enough to fall in love with him—“  


“I’m not—“ Wonwoo interrupts harshly, his heart going wild in his chest. “We’re friends. Just friends.”

Jeonghan doesn’t say anything for a moment, before he inhales audibly. “You have to stop this, Wonwoo. You’re only hurting yourself, and you’re going to hurt him, because when the spirit world hears of this, they will put an end to it  _their_ way.”

Wonwoo gulps and closes his eyes. He pulls Mingyu closer, tries to let his sweet scent calm him down. “Are you going to rat me out?”

Jeonghan hesitates for a moment. “If I have to, I will.”

“Some cupid you are,” Wonwoo mutters bitterly.

“I thought this wasn’t about love,” Jeonghan retaliates.

Wonwoo hears Jeonghan teleport away, leaving him alone in the silence with Mingyu’s soft breathing next to him. 

_when the spirit world hears of this, they will put an end to it their way._

The words echo in Wonwoo’s mind, over and over.

He doesn’t know how long he lies there, unmoving, his throat swollen and chest hurting as he gently rubs Mingyu’s back, holding him like he’s something precious.

Which he is.

He’s so precious to Wonwoo.

And Wonwoo would never, ever want to hurt Mingyu, or let others hurt him.

The thing is, no matter how much Wonwoo hates to admit it, Jeonghan is  _right_.

He knows what the right thing to do is. And while Wonwoo doesn’t really care much about what’s wrong or right, that only applies when it doesn’t concern anyone else but himself.

But this is Mingyu. And Wonwoo can’t be selfish, not this time, not when it’s about him.

He leans down and presses his lips against the crown of Mingyu’s head, inhaling his scent deeply so he can store it away for another time. “I’m sorry,” He breathes, and with one last look at Mingyu’s gentle face, Wonwoo teleports away.

 

 . * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

Staying away seems like such a simple thing to do.

But to Wonwoo, it feels like torture.

The only thing that stops Wonwoo from going back to Mingyu’s apartment is the thought that he’s doing the right thing. That it would only hurt himself more if he went back, and that he’d rather have Mingyu hate him than the guardians of the spirit world doing something to the boy for a crime Wonwoo committed.

It’s anything but easy, especially since Wonwoo didn’t even get to say goodbye properly before he left that night. 

It’s only been four days, but Mingyu is all that is on Wonwoo’s mind, no matter the time of the day, which continent he is on. Wonwoo wonders what he’s doing, if he’s okay, if he’s dressing warm enough.

Wonwoo’s bad mood doesn’t help with the weather, either. Several blizzards and hail storms appear all across the globe, and it takes Wonwoo so much strength and concentration to control them. The temperatures have dropped significantly, too, and there’s really nothing Wonwoo can do about it anymore. It’s not unusual for winter, the spirits shouldn’t be upset, so Wonwoo should be fine.

But he’s not fine, really. 

He wants to see Mingyu.

He wants to hear about his day, wants to hear him laugh, see his smile, make sure he doesn’t go out with dumb guys who will only hurt him again in the end.

But that’s stupid, because Mingyu is lonely, so of course he’s going to go on dates. 

No matter how douchey these guys might be, they can give Mingyu so much more than Wonwoo ever could.

They couldn’t even go outside together. All they ever did was sit in Mingyu’s bedroom and talk.

For a moment, Wonwoo is scared. Scared that Mingyu might even be happy about him leaving, because Mingyu is too nice of a person, so even if he wanted Wonwoo gone, he probably didn’t have the heart to tell him to f*ck off.

A week ahead of Christmas, and one week after Wonwoo saw Mingyu for the last time, he’s sitting in an abandoned tree house at a playground late at night, sulking and wondering what he’s going to do, because staying away doesn’t get easier. It only seems to get harder, and Wonwoo’s heart feels heavier with every day he can’t see the other boy.

He sees something flash in the corner of his eyes, and when he glances to the side, he sees golden fleck floating in the air. A second later, Seungkwan’s head pops up at the broken window of the wooden tree house, his eyes wide and concerned. “Here you are!”

Wonwoo sighs and sits up, his hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie. “Hey, Kwannie.”

Seungkwan floats inside, sitting down in front of Wonwoo. The glow from his skin illuminates the darkness inside the cold tree house, like the flame of a candle. “I haven’t seen you around in forever. Are you okay?”

“Define okay.”

Seungkwan frowns. “Hey… what happened? Is this about your boy?”

Wonwoo flinches, and his eyes start watering.  _His boy._ God, he wishes. “Seungkwan. I messed up.”

“Why? What happened?”

“I think I—“ Wonwoo takes a shaky breath, bites down on his lower lip to stop it from trembling. “I like him a little too much.”

Seungkwan’s lips part when he understands, and he makes a sad sound. “Oh no.”

Wonwoo sniffles and looks away, trying to hide his face. “It was only a matter of time before the other spirits found out.”

“Wait—they found out? Did they—Did they get to him?"

Wonwoo shakes his head. “No. Only Jeonghan knows, but he was going to tell the guardians if I kept going. I stopped seeing Mingyu. I think he should be fine.”

“But… Jeonghan wouldn’t do that to you. He’s the spirit of _love_.”

Wonwoo scoffs. “Are we talking about the same person here? He might as well be the spirit of hell, if you ask me.”

“Don’t say that,” Seungkwan mumbles. “Is that what all those snow storms are about? You’re sad,” He states the obvious.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to control them, but it’s hard.”

“Wonwoo.” Seungkwan shakes his head. “This isn’t okay. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s over. It’s better this way.”

“What about your boy? Will he be okay?” 

“I’m sure he will,” Wonwoo mutters bitterly. “He doesn’t need me.”

“Did you ask him?” Seungkwan asks with a strange look in his golden eyes. “If he needs you or not?”

“He was fine before meeting me, and he will be fine now, too.”

Seungkwan shakes his head. “You can’t know that. You can’t just waltz into peoples’ lives and expect them to be okay when you suddenly up and leave. That’s selfish, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo curls his fingers into fists, his eyebrows furrowing helplessly. “I—I did it for him. I don’t want them to touch him, Seungkwan. I just want the best for him.”

“So let him decide what’s best for him,” Seungkwan gently says. “Don’t be like this, Wonwoo. You’re miserable, and I’m sure he’s not doing much better, either. You should go check up on him. At least explain the situation to him so he isn’t left in the dark, hm?”

Wonwoo presses the sleeve of his sweater against his nose, two dark dots from his runny nostrils appearing in the fabric. “I don’t know if I should. What if he doesn’t want to see me?”

Seungkwan shrugs, like everything is so simple. “Then you’ll at least know. You need to stop sulking around. The world needs you, okay? Christmas is only a week away. We rely on you.”

The words feel like a warm blanket around his freezing heart. He’s sure Seungkwan truly means what he says, even if he doubts that the rest of the world really cares about him. “Alright. I’ll talk to him.”

“You do that.” Seungkwan smiles and stands up, dusting off the back of his pants. Golden light particles fly everywhere, dancing in the air like tiny fireflies. “I have some nightmares to chase away.” 

His friend disappears then, and leaves Wonwoo sitting alone in the darkness again. Not for too long though, because it’s been too many days since he’s last heard Mingyu’s voice, and he doesn’t think he can physically go any longer like this.

And Seungkwan is right. Even if Mingyu doesn’t want to see him anymore, at least Wonwoo won’t be feeling guilty about being a bad friend and leaving Mingyu hanging.

Wonwoo teleports to Mingyu’s apartment in the blink of an eye. He has no idea what the time is, but the streets are empty, and only a few of the many windows of Mingyu’s apartment complex are lit up this late. Wonwoo quickly flies up to Mingyu’s window, only to freeze when he arrives to it being wide open.

At first, Wonwoo thinks someone might’ve broken in, but that’s so freaking stupid. Mingyu’s apartment is on the eighth floor for god’s sake.

His initial confusion is quickly replaced with concern as he climbs inside and finds that the temperature in Mingyu’s bedroom is exactly the same as the freezing air outside. Wonwoo curses and hastily shuts the window. Did Mingyu leave and forgot to close the window? It feels like it’s been open for hours.

But then Wonwoo turns around and feels his heart drop when he spots Mingyu in his bed, covered by his blankets, seemingly asleep. Wonwoo rushes over and puts his hand on Mingyu’s covered shoulder, and gasps when his eyes take in Mingyu’s face. 

His lips are almost blue.

“Mingyu,” Wonwoo breathes, his whole body consumed with a kind of fear he’s never felt before. He shakes Mingyu’s shoulder, but the boy doesn’t respond. He reaches out to touch Mingyu’s forehead and feels his eyes water when it doesn’t burn him. Mingyu’s skin is just as cold as Wonwoo’s own. “Mingyu! Wake up!” 

The sleeping boy stirs the tiniest bit, and Wonwoo reaches up to cup his cheek, gently patting it. He needs Mingyu to wake up or he’s going to lose it. 

Mingyu blinks, almost in slow motion. He opens his mouth, obviously trying to speak, but out comes only a shaky exhale.

Wonwoo needs to warm him up. He needs to get his body temperature back to normal—

He glances at the bathroom and quickly pushes the sheets off of Mingyu’s body, cradles the boy in his arms and doesn’t even think twice before teleporting them to the bathroom together.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. We’ll get you warm again and you’ll be fine,” Wonwoo assures Mingyu, though he doubts the boy is listening to him. He quickly starts filling the bathtub up with warm water, upset that he can’t do anything to make the tub fill up faster. He sits down on the floor, holding Mingyu against him. “Can you hear me, Mingyu? Why would you do that? Are you out of your mind?”

Mingyu wheezes a little in his arms. “W-Why…”

That’s all he says, and while it breaks Wonwoo’s heart, he’s just glad that Mingyu’s awake. He’ll be damned if he lets anything happen to him. Wonwoo makes Mingyu get in the bathtub, but it’s hard, because Mingyu is refusing to let go of him. “Mingyu, let go. You need to get in the tub!”

Mingyu shivers and presses his cold nose against Wonwoo’s neck, clinging to him desperately. “D-Don’t leave. P-Please. You s-said you wouldn’t leave.”

Wonwoo’s heart drops all the way to the pit of his stomach. He feels like crying. Very gently, he pries Mingyu’s hands off of his sweater, and after a bit of struggling, manages to get Mingyu in the tub.

He sits down on the floor, reaching inside the water to check the temperature, trying not to hiss when it gets in contact with his cold skin. He turns the tap off once the water threatens to spill over. The water is steaming, and Mingyu is blinking drowsily, still trembling, his lips not as blue anymore but still very pale compared to the usual red.

Wonwoo lets out a nervous breath, his arms resting on the edge of the tub as he watches Mingyu. “What were you thinking? Going to sleep with the window open? You could’ve—“ Wonwoo can’t even bring himself to finish that sentence.

Mingyu turns to look at him.  “You came.” 

Wonwoo swallows heavily and shakes his head. “Mingyu…”

“I thought m-maybe you’d come back. If I left t-the window open for you.”

“You’re so stupid,” Wonwoo whispers, his eyes stinging horribly. What would’ve happened if he didn’t show up tonight? “I was so fucking scared, Mingyu.”

Mingyu doesn’t say anything, just keeps staring at Wonwoo for a long time, until his skin stops looking so dull and grey, and his cheeks flush with the rush of blood in his body. Wonwoo carefully reaches out to touch his forehead and sighs in relief when he finds that it’s significantly warmer again.

He helps the boy out of the tub once the water has cooled down. He makes sure Mingyu puts on warm clothes, and turns the heater on despite Mingyu complaining about the heating costs. 

After that, Mingyu sits down on his bed, a cup of tea in his hands and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, 

Wonwoo is on the other side of the room. He doesn’t trust himself to get closer, but his eyes are on the boy at all times. He’s still shaken up from what happened, from finding Mingyu half frozen, so he just wants to make sure the boy is okay.

The silence breaks when Mingyu sneezes. 

“How are you feeling?” Wonwoo finally asks, his voice cracking. 

“Where did you go?” Mingyu asks instead of answering Wonwoo’s question. His voice is flat, and he looks so tired. His eyes aren’t glinting the way they usually do, and Wonwoo wishes he would find anger in them, but all he sees is hurt and betrayal, and that’s so much worse.

“It’s… complicated, Mingyu.”

Mingyu frowns. “I just. I thought… I tried looking for you. B-But I didn’t even know where to begin. I went to the park—“

“Mingyu—“

“And I waited there but you didn’t come. I was really worried,” Mingyu whispers. His face scrunches up a little, and he whimpers, and Wonwoo’s chest aches when he sees the boy’s eyes spill over. His tears fall down his flushed cheeks like crystals. “I m-missed you. Why w-would you leave without t-telling me? I m-missed you so much, Wonwoo.” 

Wonwoo has a hard time getting words out. “But— Why would you miss me?”

Mingyu tries to smile. “For someone who has superpowers, you sure can be dense, Wonwoo.” 

“I didn’t think you’d care,” Wonwoo tries to explain himself. 

“How could I not care?” Mingyu asks. “I was with you every night for almost three weeks. I thought _you_ cared enough to at least tell me before disappearing on me.” 

“I do care!” Wonwoo flies forward before he can stop himself, until he’s kneeling in front of Mingyu. “I care about you. It’s why I left.”

“Is that supposed to make sense?” Mingyu bitterly asks, his gaze lowered to his lap. “At least be honest with me. If you’re sick of me, you can just say so.”

Wonwoo pulls a pained face, because this is so hard. He hates lying to Mingyu, he hates giving him only half the truth all the time, but he’s torn between wanting to be someone Mingyu can trust and not breaking the spirit laws. “Mingyu we’re not— Spirits aren’t allowed to get in touch with humans unless they’re still little kids. I disregarded every rule in the book just to hang out with you. You don’t know what they would’ve done to you if they found out about us.”

Mingyu’s eyes start watering again. “Then why did you try so hard to get me to see you? Why make me grow attached to you if you’re just going to abandon me in the end?”

Wonwoo shakes his head and reaches up, his hands aching to touch Mingyu’s cheeks. “Because I’m selfish and don’t think my actions through. But Mingyu… please, you have to believe me. I didn’t like staying away from you, either. I wouldn’t have left if I had the choice.”  


Mingyu sniffles, his lower lip wobbling. “Can I ask you something?”

Wonwoo nods his head silently. 

“Can spirits… can they grow fond of humans?” Mingyu gives Wonwoo a look that has the spirit’s mind go numb.

“They shouldn’t.”

“But they can,” Mingyu stubbornly continues, his beautiful eyes so determined Wonwoo can’t focus on anything else anymore.

“It’s forbidden.”  


Mingyu leans closer, looking desperate. “Do I have a chance, Wonwoo?”  


The spirit lets out a weak chuckle, but it comes out shaky, his chest heaving as his eyes gaze into Mingyu’s own. “My heart was fond of you the second I laid eyes on you, Mingyu. So what do you think?”

Mingyu’s breath falters, and his eyes flicker over Wonwoo’s face almost nervously, like he’s trying to understand if Wonwoo is being serious or not. “Don’t— please don’t mess with me, _Wonwoo_ —“

“I’m not,” Wonwoo interrupts, and then, just because he’s already in too deep and has nothing to lose, he reaches up and cups Mingyu’s soft cheeks in his cold palms.

Mingyu leans into the touch at first but jerks away a second later, a panicked look on his face. “W-Wait, you said it hurts when you touch me!” 

“I lied… It doesn’t hurt. I just— I thought it would just complicate things more if you touched me,” Wonwoo admits, his cheeks flushing. 

Listening to his words, Mingyu slowly leans back in, his hands reaching out to guide Wonwoo’s own back to his cheeks. They both seem so nervous, but at least Wonwoo isn’t alone in this, feeling like he’s going to burst when Mingyu nestles his cheeks into his palms. 

Wonwoo feels Mingyu’s warmth, and Mingyu feels the cold of Wonwoo’s skin. Mingyu’s eyes never leave his own, and when Wonwoo carefully brushes his thumb over Mingyu’s cheek, the boy sighs and closes his eyes, completely melting into Wonwoo’s touch. It’s so foreign to Wonwoo, another person basking in his own touch. He wants to hold Mingyu, make him feel safe and show him that he cares, that he’s there for him, in any way the boy will have him.

He just wants so much than he's allowed to have in that single moment. 

“I really like you,” Mingyu whispers, his lips brushing over Wonwoo’s wrist. The spirit shivers, barely able to make sense of Mingyu’s words. “I think I’ve liked you for a while now, Wonwoo.” 

Wonwoo shakes his head. “Why?”  


The other boy gives him a little smile. “Do you really want to know?”

“I just— You’re so amazing. You could give your heart to anyone,” Wonwoo mumbles, rubbing his thumb over Mingyu’s cheekbone and watching the skin underneath flush slightly. “I’m… I’m not even real to the world.” 

“Don’t.” Mingyu shakes his head and shuffles closer to the edge of the bed. He spreads his legs so Wonwoo is kneeling between them just so he can get closer to him, and leans in until their foreheads are almost touching. “You say I’m amazing, but you took care of me before we even knew each other. You’ve visited me every night just so I wouldn’t be alone. You listen to all my boring stories. You make me laugh. You showed me the freaking northern lights, Wonwoo. I don’t— I don’t care that you’re… different. I like you for all of those things.”

Wonwoo doesn’t realize he’s crying until Mingyu whines and pulls him into his arms. Mingyu presses close against him, his arms wrapped around Wonwoo’s neck and his face buried in Wonwoo’s shoulder. He smells sweet, not like the other night after his date with that loser. He smells like Mingyu, that scent that clings to his skin, and it calms Wonwoo’s erratic heartbeat down, makes him wrap his arms around Mingyu’s waist to pull him even closer. The spirit closes his eyes and noses along Mingyu’s neck.

He feels so… human. All these emotions. The pleasant ache in his heart, the urge to have this boy closer, to make him happy, like he cares more about his well being than his own. Wonwoo never wants to let go. “You shouldn’t think so highly of me,” Wonwoo breathes, feels Mingyu shiver in his arms when his lips brush over the buy’s pulse on his neck. 

“Wonwoo—“ Mingyu starts, ready to defend the spirit again.

“I visited you every day mostly because I couldn’t stay away from you,” Wonwoo admits. “It wasn’t as selfless as you think.” 

Mingyu stays silent for a moment, before muffling a little laugh against Wonwoo’s hoodie. He pulls away to peer into Wonwoo’s eyes, his smile shy but so genuine it makes Wonwoo’s heart swell. “I’m not mad about that.” 

Wonwoo smiles, his arms still wound around Mingyu’s waist. “I missed hearing your laugh.”

Mingyu grins and lowers his gaze, his fingers playing with Wonwoo’s hair around his nape. He can’t see it, but it makes tiny snowflakes fall down Wonwoo’s back. “Hey… You’re not going to leave again, are you?”

The warm atmosphere flickers, and Wonwoo’s face clouds over with something darker. He’s about to open his mouth, to assure Mingyu that he won’t, when he hears a weird sound behind him. He turns his head to look, and feels his heart stutter at the sight.

There are two guardians standing in front of the window, both men dressed in the spirit world’s armour, their eyes zeroed in on Wonwoo.

“We have to take you with us,” One of them says. 

Wonwoo swallows heavily. _Not now. Please not now._

“Wonwoo?” Mingyu asks, his hands coming up to cup Wonwoo’s face and turn him back so the spirit is facing him again. Mingyu can’t see or hear the guards. “What’s wrong?”

The genuine concern on Mingyu’s face breaks his heart, and Wonwoo can’t do more than give him what he hopes is a genuine smile. “Nothing.”

“If you don’t come willingly, we will have to detain you,” One of the guardians says, starting to sound impatient. 

“Mingyu, I…” Wonwoo clears his throat. “I have something to take care of.” Watching Mingyu’s face fall, he quickly adds “But I will be back right after. I won’t be gone for long.”

Mingyu seems to realize something isn’t quite right, because worry fills his eyes. “Are you in trouble?”

“I’ll be okay, don’t worry,” Wonwoo whispers. “But I have to go now.”  


“Wonwoo…” Mingyu’s voice wobbles. “D-Don’t disappear again. Please.”

Wonwoo gives him a sad smile, wants nothing more than to crawl into Mingyu’s warm bed and hold his boy for the rest of eternity, but he can feel the force of the guardians tugging on him, forcing him to let go of Mingyu. “Just don’t do anything stupid again, okay? Promise me.”

Mingyu nods and watches helplessly as Wonwoo pulls away from him. “I’ll wait for you.”

Wonwoo wants to tell him not to, because he doesn’t know what’s going to happen now, but one of the guardians suddenly grips his shoulder, and before Wonwoo can say something else, they teleport him away.

 

 

When Wonwoo opens his eyes again, he’s where he never would’ve willingly went again.

He’s back in the spirit world.

Not only that, he’s at the base, where most spirits gather whenever there’s an emergency.

And when the guards step away from him, Wonwoo drops on his ass, because he hasn’t teleported this far in years and his body isn’t as used to it anymore. He curses under his breath and looks up angrily when someone calls his name.

“Fancy seeing you here.” 

Wonwoo grits his teeth together. 

Of course it was Jeonghan who ratted him out. 

Wonwoo doesn’t even bother answering the other spirit, not wanting to entertain him anymore than he probably already has by screwing up so hard and, well, ending up here. 

The main door to the assembly room opens, and a flood of other spirits stream inside. 

Minghao looks at Wonwoo with shock all over his face, followed by Seokmin who gives him a friendly smile, despite looking worried out of his mind.

Seungkwan doesn’t look much better, and he seems like he wants to rush to Wonwoo’s side, but the guardians next to Wonwoo shoot him a warning look. 

There are other spirits there, like Jihoon, who doesn’t even look at him, probably knowing he played some part in this, but doesn’t want to get in trouble for it, and Wonwoo understands him, doesn’t blame him for it. 

The last ones to step inside are Santa and mother nature, and the disappointed look in their eyes as they look at Wonwoo only fuel his anger and frustration more. 

“What a happy family gathering,” Wonwoo mutters. “You guys could’ve at least organized some food, you know.”

“Wonwoo,” Mother Nature - otherwise known as Yongsun - calls his name like an actual mother would with her child that just did something bad. “I believe it’s not the best time for jokes.”

“Is it ever?” Wonwoo asks, shaking his head. He’s so fucking tired. His anger fades away when he thinks about Mingyu, sitting alone in his bedroom. It’s only been minutes, but Wonwoo misses him so much. He just wants to be with him, nothing else. 

“It was brought to our attention that you’ve been in contact with a mortal,” Yongsun continues.

Wonwoo’s eyes flicker to Jeonghan, who meets his gaze dead-on. No remorse whatsoever.

He actually might just be satan in disguise. Wonwoo wants to shove his stupid arrows up his—

“You’ve been neglecting the rules for years now,” Santa continues. “We’ve always let you get away with it, seeing as you never actually committed crimes. But this— Wonwoo, it’s the first rule in our book. The one thing we simply can’t turn a blind eye to.” 

Wonwoo watches their faces quietly. They all look human, but… more, in a way. Their clothes, their hair, their glowing eyes, the magic surrounding them. Wonwoo wonders how many of them feel like they’re better than humans. Like they didn’t use to be human too, before they got turned.

“So,” Wonwoo mutters. “What happens now? Are you going to lock me away? Find a replacement?”

Yongsun shakes her head. “The man in the moon still believes that you are cut out for this job. I talked to him, and he said that you’re the soul of Jack Frost. So no, we’re not finding a replacement for you. We still want you with us, Wonwoo. But there will be consequences.” 

“Like what?”

“You can’t see the human again,” She says.

Wonwoo feels his stomach drop, his face falling, but he catches himself just as fast. “You can’t stop me.” 

“No, we can, and we will,” Yongsun interjects. “The boy’s memories of you will be erased, and you will go back to focusing on your job the way you are supposed to.”

“Don’t—“ Wonwoo starts, feeling panic rise in his chest. He can’t let them touch Mingyu. He won’t _let_ them. “Don’t you dare—“

“It’s only four months out of the year, Wonwoo, yet you can’t even stay focused and stay out of trouble during that. The other seasons pass with no issues, yet when it comes to winter, we always run into trouble. I am quite frankly sick of it. If the man in the moon wasn’t so fond of you, I would’ve stripped you of your powers in an instant.” 

“Yongsun,” Santa gently speaks up. “Don’t say that.”

Yongsun closes her eyes as if to calm herself down. “Those are the consequences, Wonwoo.” 

“No, please,” Wonwoo tries again, his anger slowly blending into desperation. “Don’t do anything to him. He didn’t do anything wrong. It was me.”  


“We’re not going to hurt him, Wonwoo,” Santa gently says. “We just can’t risk him revealing our secret to the world. You have to understand that.”  


“He won’t! He wouldn’t! Please, hear me out, just— take my powers! Leave him out of this.”

A collective gasp is heard in the room, and when Wonwoo looks up, he can see Minghao shaking his head desperately. 

Seungkwan gives him a sad yet understanding smile.

“You— You are willing to give up your powers for a _mortal_?” Yongsun asks.

“Yes, I am, and his name is Mingyu.” 

Yongsun seems taken aback by the sheer anger in Wonwoo’s voice, but she catches herself quickly. “Either way, we can’t do that. Who is to say _you_ won’t expose us out of revenge?”

“I don’t care, okay? I don’t care about you just like you guys don’t care about me! I just want to— I want to have a life again. I don’t want to be invisible to everyone. None of you know how it is, kids believe in all of you, or at least the other spirits have their friends here. None of you tried to make me feel included, always made it seem like my job was silly and useless. ”

“Wonwoo, that’s not true,” Seungkwan speaks up, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Wonwoo shoots him and Minghao a soft look. They’re about the only ones who care about Wonwoo in this stupid world.

Yongsun doesn’t seem fazed in the slightest. “You have two choices. Either we erase that boy’s memories and you can keep your powers, or you give them up today, and we will make sure that neither of you will remember what transpired between you two.” 

Wonwoo lets out a humourless laugh. “That’s just— I can’t win either way, huh? That’s just great. _Fuck_ you all.”

“Wonwoo! That’s enough.” Santa gives him a scolding look and Wonwoo turns his head away, his jaw clenched, tears welling in his eyes.

He feels so helpless and alone. “Can I… Can I see him? One last time? I just want to say goodbye. Please.” 

Seeing something waver in Yongsun’s green eyes, Wonwoo clings to the last piece of hope. He can’t accept either of these options; he can’t accept waking up with no memories of Mingyu, or not having the boy remember _him_ anymore. 

Technically, he knows it hasn’t been that long since he’s known Mingyu. It shouldn’t be this hard, the thought of them having to go separate ways. But something in Wonwoo is so against the idea of being apart from the boy that he can’t even handle the thought of it. 

She nods her head towards the guardians on Wonwoo’s side. “Take him downstairs until we make a decision.”  


Minghao lets out a shout of protest at that, and people start speaking up around them. 

Downstairs most probably means the containment room, not quite a jail, but usually a place where spirits have to go who committed a crime. 

Wonwoo scoffs and lets the guards take him away. They shove him inside the room rather roughly and lock the door. A buzzing sound surrounds the room, and even though Wonwoo already knows what will happen, he tries to use his powers.

Nothing happens. 

The magic surrounding the chamber makes his powers useless. 

He sighs and sits down against the brick wall. There’s nothing there. Just a square room with a small vent in the corner so people won’t suffocate in here.

Wonwoo takes a few deep breaths, trying to sort out his emotions, because he finds it hard to tell if he’s angry or upset or sad.

Then he thinks of Mingyu, and finds that he’s not angry, but he feels desperate, and scared. 

He doesn’t want these powers anymore.

He wants to be human again.

Wants another chance at life.

Wonwoo has never felt welcome here, never felt like he was truly part of any of these people, but being with Mingyu, spending time with the boy, he’s felt more loved and wanted than ever before in his life.

At first, Wonwoo thought that becoming a spirit was a blessing. An escape from his horrible life, that in retrospect maybe wasn’t that bad at all.

Everyone struggles in their lives.

Wonwoo has seen homeless people, people having money problems, people fighting, people getting sick, people losing their loved ones…

But he’s also seen people having fun with their friends, people spending Christmas with their families, people finally getting that salary raise at a job they’d been working their butts off, people finding love, people protecting each other.

Wonwoo only remembers the negative aspects of his old life, but there must’ve been happy moments, too. And he wants them back. He wants grow old and create new memories, bad and good ones.

But maybe he won’t get a chance to.

And Mingyu will find someone else to be with, and just the thought makes his heart crumble and his eyes well up with hot tears.

God, he doesn’t want to imagine Mingyu with someone else. He doesn’t want anyone else to touch his boy, because Wonwoo didn’t even get the chance to love him properly. 

Wonwoo sniffles pathetically and rubs at his eyes. He wishes things weren’t like this. So complicated. 

His powers suddenly make him feel like a caged in animal, like he has no choice but to do this for the rest of his life. 

For the first time ever, Wonwoo feels doomed rather than blessed. 

There’s no way of telling how long he sits in here. It might be just minutes, it might be hours. 

He just sits there while he waits for other people decide on his faith.

 

 

At one point, he falls asleep, and wakes up to the guardians hauling him up to his feet. They drag him back upstairs, back to the assembly room, where only Yongsun is present this time around.

Wonwoo shakes the grips of the guardians off rather roughly and fixes his sweater. His eyes flicker around the room, and he realizes that the moon is out.

His stomach sinks. He must’ve been down there for at least a whole day, if not longer. He told Mingyu he’d come back quickly. 

He needs to go back.

Yongsun is facing the glass, her head tilted back as if she’s looking up at the moon. Her blond hair is braided, flowers laced into the strands, and it nearly touches the ground. Wonwoo remembers thinking she was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen.

That definitely isn’t the case anymore. His definition of beauty comes in the form of warm brown eyes, wind blown hair and a toothy smile.

Wonwoo hears her exhale loudly, and then she turns around to face him. The moon is shining bright and big behind her, surrounding her frame like a halo. 

Her face isn’t illuminated, only her green eyes glowing in the dark. “The man in the moon made his decision.”

Wonwoo swallows nervously, his eyes flickering up to the moon. He isn’t sure if he has the moon on his side. He never managed to get in touch with the moon spirit. 

He knows Seungkwan talks to the man from time to time, but Wonwoo’s never been able to.

He always figured that the man in the moon didn’t like him all that much either, so right now, he’s accordingly anxious.

“Take him away,” Yongsun suddenly says, after looking at Wonwoo for a long time. 

“Wait!” Wonwoo steps away when the guardians try to grab him again. “What’s going on? What’s the decision?”

“You’ll see,” Yongsun says. 

“Will I get to see him again?” 

Yongsun sighs. “Always so many questions, Wonwoo. I think that’s what annoyed me the most about you. You were never able to just do your job. You always needed answers to everything. Your curiosity reminds of that of a child.”

Wonwoo glares at her. “If you just answered my question, I wouldn’t have to ask.”

“We never took you for granted,” Yongsun suddenly says, her eyes softening. “The man in the moon doesn’t make mistakes. He chose you because your soul was so pure, and your intentions were never malicious. Not once did you do anything to hurt someone. I realize now, that we should’ve appreciated you more.” 

Wonwoo lowers his head, not really sure what to do or how to feel.

Isn’t that what he’s been wanting to hear for so long?

So why do the words he’s been longing for offer so little comfort right now?  


“Goodbye, Wonwoo,” Yongsun says with a rueful sigh.

Wonwoo’s head snaps up, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Wh—“

Before he can get the words out, the grips on his arms are back. 

The world around him zooms away, and the last thing he sees is the bright glow of the moon.

Then, everything goes black.

 

 

. * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

 

Wonwoo wakes up in his own apartment.

The only time he has felt this confused and disoriented was the day he woke up to be a spirit all those years ago.

His head feels like it’s filled with cement, and his tongue is completely numb. 

He sits up in his bed groggily, his body aching all over. When he looks out the window, it’s still dark outside, so he couldn’t have been passed out for too long. 

His memories start to come back little by little, and Wonwoo feels relieved, but only for a split second, because if he still has his memories, it can only mean one thing.

Wonwoo’s heart drops at the realization of the decision they made.

“No,” He croaks. “No, no, no, please—“

Wonwoo stumbles out of his bed, and his first instinct is to teleport to Mingyu’s apartment before he starts freaking out, but he’s still too out of it, so his powers refuse to work, even after several attempts. 

Wonwoo wrenches his door open and runs downstairs and out the building. Mingyu’s apartment is on the other side of the town, and without his powers, it’ll take him forever to get there, but Wonwoo doesn’t even care anymore.

He just wants to see Mingyu.

He needs to see him, he has to make sure they didn’t actually—

They couldn’t have, right?

They couldn’t have been cruel enough to do that.

Wonwoo runs so fast his lungs start burning. The air is ice cold, and the streets are practically deserted again. Wonwoo is so focused on getting to Mingyu, he doesn’t even realize that his feet start hurting from the cold pavement.

What he does realize is the strange look a couple shoots him.

Wonwoo doesn’t pay them any mind at first, but then an old man stares at him and then glances down at his feet, shaking his head gruffly.

Wonwoo stops running for a moment, confusion cursing through him.

What’s going on?

He sees a girl approach him and says “Excuse me?”

And she just—

She looks up at him with a wary look. “Yes?”

Wonwoo freaks out.

She—

She can _see_ him.

Wonwoo is visible.

But how?

“S-Sorry,” He stutters out and starts walking, his thoughts running wild as he tries to make sense of the situation.

He passes a store and looks at the glass display, his breath getting caught in his throat. 

His hair… it’s _brown_. 

Like it used to be, back when he was—

human. 

His powers don’t work.

His hair is back to brown.

He’s currently freezing his ass off.

People can see him.

Wonwoo’s chest starts heaving as he realizes what the man in the moon decided on. He feels scared and excited, the wave of emotions making him feel sick to the stomach, and he knows he should be freaking out about the fact that suddenly, he’s back to being mortal after so many years, but still.

There’s still one thing that scares him way more than his current state.

What did they do to Mingyu?

Wonwoo starts running again, not caring about the weird looks he’s getting. 

He spots Mingyu’s school and knows that he has to be close to the boy’s apartment, but his legs hurt and there’s a stabbing pain on his right side. It feels like his body is about to give out.

Just as Wonwoo passes Mingyu’s school, he sees a familiar tuft of hair appear in front of the main entrance.

Wonwoo skids to a stop on a patch of ice, slips and stops himself from completely falling with his hands. He’s gasping for air and watches as Mingyu walks across the campus with a racing heart.

 _Mingyu_.

There’s nothing else on his mind anymore, just Mingyu, like nothing else in the world matters.

Wonwoo forces his legs to move even though everything hurts. He needs to check. He needs to make sure that nothing changed, that they’re still… that Mingyu still—

The boy looks so tired.

The dark circles under his eyes look terrible, and his lips are pale. Mingyu looks like a mess, and Wonwoo wonders how that could’ve happened in just a day.

Mingyu keeps walking, hasn’t spotted him yet.

By now, Wonwoo is walking behind the boy, his bare feet barely making a sound on the cold pavement. No one else is on the campus.

Just them two.

Wonwoo takes a shuddery breath, curls his trembling fingers into fists.

He’s shaking all over. Everything is so _cold_.

“Mingyu.”

It’s barely more than a whisper, but Mingyu slowly stops walking. He stands still for a few seconds, and Wonwoo doesn’t know why, but his eyes start prickling.

He’s so scared. 

Mingyu turns around, slowly, and then—

He just stares.

He stares at Wonwoo, but doesn’t say a thing. He doesn’t react at all. He just stares blankly, like he’s seeing Wonwoo for the first time.

Wonwoo’s face crumbles.

Mingyu doesn’t remember him.

They really did it, they really went through with it— 

“M-Mingyu,” He tries again, his voice shaking. “Please. I’m here. I came back. Y-You know me, right? Please don’t do this…”  


Mingyu blinks a few times, and he suddenly moves, curls his fingers into Wonwoo’s sweater and pulls him into a bone crushing hug. Wonwoo gasps, and Mingyu whimpers into his shoulder, clinging to him so tightly Wonwoo can barely breathe. “Y-You need to stop doing this! You can’t keep doing this to me!”

Wonwoo doesn’t care anymore. He’s sobbing now, frantically. “You remember me?”

“Of course I do, what kind of question is that?” Mingyu whispers and turns to press his face into Wonwoo’s shoulder, pulling him even closer. “God, Wonwoo, I was so scared. You were gone so long. I thought— I thought—“ 

“W-What?” Wonwoo pulls away, his trembling hands coming up to cup Mingyu’s cheeks. He tries to wipe away Mingyu’s tears, but his fingers are completely numb. “I was only gone for a day.”

Mingyu makes a choked up sound and shakes his head. “No, Wonwoo. It’s been a month.”

“What? How— I was— yesterday…” He has no idea what’s happening. How could he have been gone for a month? He was in the spirit world just yesterday, he couldn’t have been there for a whole month.

Did it take this long for him to turn human again? Is that it?

“What happened?” Mingyu asks, more tears spilling over. He looks so sad, so worried, and Wonwoo just wants to make everything okay again. “Did they punish you? Wonwoo— are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they? I was so worried. I was so worried but I didn’t know what to do, I waited for you, I’ve been sitting in front of the window every single day, I missed you so much— and what happened to your hair?”

“I’m fine, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I disappeared again,” Wonwoo whispers and pulls the boy closer. His lips are numb, but he shakily presses them against Mingyu’s temple. “Mingyu, I’m… I don’t know what’s going on but I think I’m not a spirit anymore.”

Mingyu sniffles and pulls back, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “W-What?” His eyes flicker up to Wonwoo’s hair, and he shakes his head. “Why’s your hair brown?” 

“I think I’m h-human again,” Wonwoo stutters. His words don’t come out right, his teeth chattering violently. “I t-think they— I told them t-to take my powers, I think t-they—“

“Wonwoo, you’re— you’re freezing!” Mingyu whimpers and pulls him closer. “Oh god, you’re really—- oh shit. Oh fuck, okay, okay.” Mingyu puts his backpack down and takes off his coat despite Wonwoo cursing at him to keep it on. He makes Wonwoo put it on and pulls up the hood. “We need to— get inside. Get you inside. Come on!”

He’s trembling all over, can’t even feel his hand when Mingyu takes it in his own. The boy looks worried out of his mind as he pulls Wonwoo through the streets. Wonwoo doesn’t look away from Mingyu, can’t bring himself to. Mingyu tells him to focus on walking, but Wonwoo doesn’t care.

Once they’re in Mingyu’s apartment, Mingyu makes Wonwoo take a hot shower. 

“I don’t want to,” Wonwoo protests. “Mingyu— wait— please just let me—“  


“Shut up!” Mingyu pushes him towards the shower stall. “I need you to warm up.”

It isn’t until the water has warmed Wonwoo up to his bones and he managed to get through what he thinks was a minor panic attack in the shower, that he can finally sit down on Mingyu’s bed, in a shirt and a pair of sweatpants that belong to Mingyu, that Mingyu allows Wonwoo to wrap his arms around him and pull him into a tight embrace.

“Wonwoo.” Mingyu sighs and shakes his head against his neck. “God. You had me so worried. Please stop, my heart can’t take it.”

“I’m sorry. No more. I promise.” Wonwoo pulls back to look at Mingyu, feels his heart flutter at how pretty the boy looks. “Well. So much for my cool superpowers.”

Mingyu smiles wobbly. “I don’t care about your stupid powers. Just don’t leave again.” 

Wonwoo clears his throat, feels his cheeks heat up. “Uhm. Mingyu… I. There are a bunch of reasons why I didn’t want to be a spirit anymore. But I just… I need you to know, that you were one of them. I like you. Like… a lot.” 

The other boy smiles, his eyes almost disappearing. “Yeah?”

Wonwoo nods, his whole face softening as he looks at the boy. He can’t handle all these feelings, he really can’t. They make him want to run away and hide, but if they’re going to make Mingyu smile this prettily, Wonwoo is willing to try. “Do you… I mean. Do you still?”

“Yes!” Mingyu bites down on his lip after his outburst. “I— yes. Wonwoo. I like you. So fucking much.”

There’s a moment where they both just grin at each other, Wonwoo’s heart thudding against his ribcage so hard he worries it will just squeeze past his ribs and plop down on the mattress between them. Mingyu looks so soft, his bangs falling into his eyes messily, his lips bitten red, the sweater a little too big on him.

Wonwoo feels a little breathless.

Mingyu’s eyes flicker down to Wonwoo’s lips, and then up to his eyes, and back down to his lips. “Can I?”  


Swallowing nervously, Wonwoo nods his head, and then Mingyu is right there, leaning in so close Wonwoo can feel his hasty breaths against his lips. Mingyu smells like coffee, and the sudden proximity almost drives Wonwoo mad. He opens his mouth, but finds no words. His eyebrows draw together almost desperately, the tension too much to handle—

And then Mingyu’s soft lips touch his own, and Wonwoo’s eyes flutter closed. The tension crackles, and when Wonwoo breathes out heavily through his nose and completely melts into the touch, the tension breaks entirely, leaving room for a feeling that’s hard to describe.

It just feels good. So good, and so right, and all Wonwoo can think is _finally_. 

Mingyu pulls away, and they both open their eyes at the same time. Mingyu smiles at him, his eyes sparkling. “Was that okay?”

“More than okay,” Wonwoo breathes in a daze. He can’t stop staring at Mingyu. That was his first kiss, and Mingyu has shown him a whole new world, one Wonwoo doesn’t want to explore with anyone else but the boy right in front of him. “Can we do it again?”  


Mingyu laughs giddily and pulls Wonwoo in, pressing their foreheads together. “We can do it as much as you want. We have all the time in the world now, right?” 

Wonwoo smiles and nuzzles their noses together. His chest is flooded with warmth and happiness. This is all he ever wanted and more. “Yeah, yeah, we do.” 

 

 

 

They don’t get much sleep that night.

Wonwoo tries to explain to Mingyu what happened while he was gone, but it is understandably very confusing to the boy, no matter how hard Mingyu tries to follow, so Wonwoo spares him the details.

“So will there be a new winter spirit?” Mingyu asks. He has yet to let go of Wonwoo, and while Wonwoo likes Mingyu’s touch, he knows that the boy is scared Wonwoo will just vanish again if he lets go, and that makes him feel so bad that he holds Mingyu tighter in return. 

“Eventually. I think for now, Yongsun— I mean. Mother nature will take care of it,” Wonwoo explains. 

It’s weird. 

He was never particularly fond of the spirit world or the other spirits, but there were Seungkwan and Minghao. He didn’t even get to say goodbye.

He just hopes he’ll get to see them again. 

Hopes the guardians didn’t prohibit them from seeing Wonwoo. 

“You’re happy though, right?” Mingyu asks, resting his head on Wonwoo’s chest. He must be able to feel the excited thumps of his heart. 

“I’ve never been happier, Mingyu,” Wonwoo breathes into his ear, smiling when Mingyu shivers and tightens his arms around Wonwoo.

The boy peers up at him through his bangs, looks at Wonwoo’s mouth, and then almost innocently, meets Wonwoo’s eyes again.

“Did you want something?” Wonwoo asks softly.

Mingyu smiles. “Goodnight kiss?”

Wonwoo leans down and closes his eyes. Pecks Mingyu’s soft mouth softly, his insides twisting and turning as he presses their lips together. It’s sweet and warm, and Wonwoo finds it hard to stop once he tastes Mingyu’s lips. “Could do that forever,” He whispers, a little out of breath.

Mingyu licks his lips and chuckles, looking slightly dazed, too. He moves to rest his head on Wonwoo’s chest again. “Forever can wait. You need to rest.”

Wonwoo sighs and pulls the boy closer, closing his eyes. “Goodnight, Mingyu.”

“Goodnight, Wonwoo.” 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonwoo wakes up early the next morning, and his bladder is screaming.

It’s a weird feeling.

He hasn’t had the urge to use the restroom in so long. He’ll have to get used to these things again. Getting hungry, needing to pee, having to shower…

Mingyu has moved off of him in the night, but his hand is still clinging to Wonwoo’s chest, and the sight makes him smile, his chest flooding with fondness.

He can’t quite believe yet that this is his life now.

It’s a grey day outside, but it’s still a nice morning, the room still quite dark since it’s so early. Wonwoo leans down to brush his thumb over Mingyu’s soft cheek and pulls away as quietly as he can, not wanting to wake the student.

He sees himself for the first time in the mirror after using the toilet, and he doesn’t really know if he likes it or not. 

His face is still the same, of course, but his eyes are darker, his skin has more color to it, and his silver hair is now a warm brown. He looks so… normal. So mundane.

Wonwoo sighs as he stares at his reflection. He knows Mingyu didn’t start liking him for his powers, but he feels oddly… empty now. 

He has nothing to offer, absolutely nothing but his genuine affection for the boy, and he wonders how long that will be enough. 

He really didn’t think this through, did he?

He doesn’t even have money.

His happy mood fades and makes way for worry as he exits the bathroom, and he’s so deeply lost in his thoughts he doesn’t immediately spot the person sitting at the kitchen counter until they clear their throat and nearly make Wonwoo jump out of his skin.

“Hi friend.”

Wonwoo glares at Jeonghan’s form, stepping away from him. “What are you doing here?”

“Brown suits you,” Jeonghan says with a smile. “I just wanted to check up on you. Make sure you didn’t die in the process of mortalizing you again, you know.” 

“Drop the act, Jeonghan,” Wonwoo spits. “And don’t come here again, understand? Leave me alone.”

Jeonghan stares at him for a moment before shaking his head. “I know what you think. I didn’t do anything, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo scoffs and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Of course you did. You even threatened to do it.”

“Oh, come on. You know I like to run my mouth.” Jeonghan rolls his eyes. “I’m Cupid, you idiot. Do you seriously think I have it in me to split two people apart who clearly are destined to be together?”

Wonwoo shrugs. “I wouldn’t put it past you.” 

Jeonghan shakes his head. “You and that boy. I hope you know that’s not just lust and affection. Try soulmates.” 

Wonwoo’s features slip, and he glances at the bedroom where Mingyu is sleeping. His heart stutters and suddenly screams at him to go back to the boy, to cuddle him and kiss him and just be near him, like the living room is too far away to bear. “I don’t need you to tell me how I feel about him.”

“I know you don’t, but I can sense these things. I just thought you’d like to know. These things are rare these days. You’re very lucky, Wonwoo.” Jeonghan purses his lips for a moment before letting out a sigh, and for a second, Wonwoo thinks this is the first time Jeonghan's actually dropped his act in front of Wonwoo. He sees the boy for who he is for the very first time, and begrudgingly wonders if he’s misjudged the spirit all this time. “I brought something for you.”

Wonwoo warily watches the spirit pull something out of his sachet where he keeps his arrows. It’s a white envelope. He steps closer and takes it, turning it over before looking at the spirit again. “What is this?”

“I had to beg Santa to find these,” Jeonghan mumbles. “Well, Minghao and Seungkwan helped, too. You’ll need these if you want to survive here.”

Wonwoo feels a little sad, hearing his friends’ names. He already misses them a lot. Opening up the envelope, his eyebrows shoot up in surprise and absolute relief when he sees what’s inside.

His old passport is in there, his driver’s licence, his credit cards, his birth certificate. His credit cards are probably out of date, but at least he has something to go on. Wonwoo slowly closes the envelope again and looks up at the spirit meekly. “… Thank you.”

Jeonghan smiles and shrugs. “That’s okay.” 

Wonwoo sighs and nibbles on his lower lip. “I’m sorry for thinking so badly of you. Sometimes you just… I don’t know, you were such a pain in the ass, you know?”  


Jeonghan chuckles and hops off the bar stool. “I know. But it’s your fault.”

“How’s it my fault?!”

“You’re so easy to rile up, Wonwoo. I had a lot of fun making your life a nightmare. I’m going to miss doing that.” Jeonghan grins at him, and Wonwoo can’t stop himself from smiling back. 

“Hey, uhm. Are the others, fine? Are they mad at me? And why didn’t they erase my memories?”

Jeonghan shakes his head. “The man in the moon decided, Wonwoo. He trusted you enough not to reveal our secret to the world. And it’s not like you abandoned us in a horrible way. They think very fondly of you.

“Oh.” Wonwoo feels the last bit of worry lingering in his chest fade away at the information. “Can I still see Seungkwan and Hao?”  


Jeonghan nods. “I’m sure they’ll visit you every now and then. Any other questions?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. “Thank you again, Jeonghan.”

“Yeah,” Jeonghan mumbles, his smile kind and genuine. “Be happy, yeah?”

“You, too.” Wonwoo gives the spirit a smile and watches him teleport away with a bittersweet feeling in chest. 

So.

That’s it.

Wonwoo is officially free. 

He looks down at the envelope in his hands, his excitement rising slowly but steadily.

“Wonwoo?” 

Wonwoo’s head snaps to the side where a sleepy looking Mingyu approaches him. He’s barely able to open his eyes, his face puffy and hair all over the place.

Wonwoo smiles brightly, unable to contain his happiness.

_Try soulmates._

“Who were you talking to?” Mingyu slurs, coming closer, his bare feet padding across the floor softly. 

But Wonwoo doesn’t answer, instead pulls the boy into his arms, pressing a soft kiss against his neck before nuzzling the warm skin there. “Good morning.”  


Mingyu hums sleepily and melts into his arms. “I’m not dreaming, right? You’re really here?”

“I am.”  


“And you’re staying?”

“Yeah.”

“And you really like me?” Mingyu asks, his voice muffled against Wonwoo’s shoulders. They’re swaying from side to side. 

“I really, really like you, Mingyu,” Wonwoo whispers into his ear and pulls away after a moment to peer into Mingyu’s warm eyes. 

Mingyu bites down on his bottom lip to try and stop himself from smiling. “I like you more.”

“I doubt that.”

“Can we… tell each other how much we like each other in bed?” Mingyu asks, leaning in to rest his head on Wonwoo’s chest. “It’s too early. ‘m sleepy.”

“Come on,” Wonwoo mumbles and grabs his hand, lacing their fingers together as he guides Mingyu back to his bedroom.

“What’s that in your hand?” Mingyu groggily asks. 

Wonwoo puts the envelope down on the night stand and climbs into the bed after Mingyu where the boy immediately clings to him like a koala. “My future,” Wonwoo answers.

His future.

Getting his life back on track.

Figuring out what he wants to become.

The memories he makes and the years he lives through forming creases in his skin as he gets older.

With Mingyu on his side.

Wonwoo feels like he’s already holding the whole world in his arms when Mingyu snuggles up against him and starts snoring softly only seconds later.

Everything else is just a bonus. 

Before Wonwoo falls back asleep, he glances out the window.

It’s snowing. 

 

 

. * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

 

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't plan this through too well so some things might not make sense.. i hope you enjoyed anyway :)


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